Studying The School of Athens

In the first room of the papal apartments at the Vatican, also known as the Stanza della Segnatura, there is a Raphael fresco painted from 1510-1511 known as The School of Athens.  The School of Athens is Raphael's representation of philosophy and is undoubtedly his most famous work.

The School of Athens portrays a congregation of the great philosophers and scientists of the world.  Raphael utilized fully frontal one-point perspective for this work of art to give the painting a three dimensional reveal on two dimensions.  The main focus is on the two people in the middle, Plato and Aristotle.  Upon further inspection of the teacher and student we can see their ideals inferred by the direction in which they point.  Plato, pointing to the heavens holding Timaeus, is a spiritual idealist who believes in a higher power.  Some of Plato's notions have been adapted by the Christian church and Christian mysticism.  Aristotle was Plato's student and he had completely different views.  Aristotle's beliefs were directed more towards the material reality of the world and the facts that can be seen, tested and proven. That is why Aristotle is pointing towards the Earth and holding his book Nichomachean Ethics in this masterpiece.

The painting shows great attention to detail.  One example of this expert detailing is the color changes and shadowing.  From the angle of the shadows of the philosophers and scientists, it can be determined that Raphael painted this with the intent that the sun is overhead and to the right of the building.  This would mean if the point of view is supposed to be Northbound, then it is mid morning.  There are fifty-five people, including a cameo of Raphael, in this fresco and each of them looks very different and unique.  Aristotle and Plato are wearing clothes with colors that could be interpreted as the four elements; brown for Earth, blue for Water, red for Fire, and grey for Air.  This would make sense seeing as Aristotle's values are physical, such as the water and earth. Plato's values, being spiritual in nature, would have been Fire as a symbol of God, and Air, the symbol of the Heavens.

Upon further examination of The School of Athens, we can see the faces of many people that Raphael used as inspiration or models. This includes Michelangelo, Leonardo, and even Raphael himself. Leonardo was used to model as Plato. It would appear that Heraclitus was inspired by Michelangelo’s work of Jeremiah. Raphael modeled Apelles, who was one of the most important Greek painters whose work just did not survive the test of time.  It is a shame that Raphael did not include a listing of all people in any of his belongings or journals before he died, tragically young.  This would have been helpful for future generations in fully understanding why they each of them were portrayed in his dedication to philosophy. 

Raphael’s The School of Athens is nothing shy of a masterpiece of the 16th century.  Raphael’s flawless attention to detail was used to portray the greatest minds of history.  It is no surprise why this is Raphael’s most recognized work and why it is the ultimate representation of the enlightened atmosphere of the High Renaissance.