Assess Raphael’s The School of Athens in terms of Renaissance ideals. Identify the elements of the fresco that characterize the interests of the period. Refer to some of the significant details of the interpretation of the painting provided in the Revel Assets: Closer Look video.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The influence of Classical architecture can be seen in the arches and columns; the statues of Apollo and Minerva harken back to the Roman past. The presence of Plato and Aristotle identify the importance of Classical learning, and the groupings of philosophers and scholars indicate the interest in education. In the center of the painting, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato holds a copy of his work the Timaeus and points upward to the world of the unchanging forms. To his left is his disciple Aristotle, who holds a copy of his own work, the Nicomachean Ethics, and holds his hand out parallel to the ground, indicating his emphasis on the empirical and this-worldly. In the right foreground, stooping over a compass, is the figure of Euclid. Vasari, the famous art historian of the Renaissance, says that Raphael based this figure on Bramante, the architect who designed Saint Peter’s Basilica. The figures surrounding Euclid in the right foreground represent the various stages of learning. On the central steps, in a recumbent position, is a figure identified variously as Diogenes the Cynic or Socrates. The cup to his left reminds one of the deadly cup of hemlock imbibed by Socrates as recounted in Plato’s dialogue, the Phaedo. The inclusion of a self-portrait of Raphael demonstrates the growing individuality of artists. Raphael includes his self-portrait in a group with the Greek geographer Ptolemy and the Persian astronomer Zoroaster. In the left foreground, Raphael depicts the contemporary sculptor Michelangelo as the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Michelangelo was working next door at the time on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Raphael was praised for his mastery of the realistic depiction of human gesture and pose. The composition of the painting embodies the central humanist theme of symmetry, clarity, and balance.