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(Redirected from School of Athens)
'''The School of Athens''' or "Scuola di Atene" in Italian is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1510 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The ''Stanza della Segnatura'' was the first of the rooms to be decorated, and ''The School of Athens'' the second painting to be finished after ''La disputa''.
Because it was positioned over the philosophical section of the library of Pope Julius II, ''The School of Athens'' shows the greatest philosophers, scientists and mathematicians of classical antiquity. Plato and Aristotle, the Greek philosophers that were considered most important, are standing in the center of the composition at the top of the steps. Plato is holding his ''Timaeus''. Aristotle is carrying a copy of his ''Nichomachean Ethics''. Their gestures correspond to their interests in the philosophical field — Plato is pointing upwards towards Heaven and Aristotle is gesturing towards the earth.
Diogenes is lying carefree on the steps before them to show his philosophical attitude: he despised all material wealth and the lifestyle associated with it. To the left, the man leaning on the block is Heraclites, meant to be Michelangelo. This figure was an afterthought: it was not in the original cartoon. In 1510, Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel to view Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling by candle light. He was so awed by the unfinished work that he added Michelangelo after the manner of his depiction of the Prophet Jeremiah, to show his respect for the artist.
Raphael's self portrait is at the far lower-right of the fresco, the young man with brown hair staring straight out at the audience. On the left of the painting a girl-like figure, dressed in white, is also staring out at the audience. It is thought to represent Hypatia of Alexandria. Romantic legend has it that the model was Raphael's love, Margherita. Other interpretations, however, claim that it is a portrait of the young Francesco Maria I della Rovere. One of Raphael's contemporary portraits appears to show the same androgynous figure from a similar angle.
The identity of some of the philosophers in the picture, such as Plato or Aristotle, is uncontroversial, but scholars disagree on many of the other figures. According to Lahanas,[1] they are usually identified as follows:
? —
2: —
3: Unknown — (?)
4: or or ? — ?
5: — ?
6: — ?
7: or ? — ?
8: or ? — ?
9: — ( or Raphael's mistress Margherita.)
10: or ? — ?
11: ? — ?
12: — ?
13: — ().
14: holding the '' — ( ).
15: holding the '' — ?
16: — ?
17: ? — ?
18: or with students — ( )?
19: or ? — (Baldassare Castiglione or Pietro Bembo).
20: — ?
R: Apelles — ().
21: Protogenes — ( or Perugino)[2].
]]
A reproduction of the fresco can be seen in the auditorium of Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia. Produced in 1900 by George W. Breck to replace an older reproduction that was destroyed in a fire in 1895, it is four inches off scale from the original, because the Vatican would not allow identical reproductions of its art works. [3]
Another reproduction, by Neide, is in the Königsberg Cathedral, Kaliningrad.
More recently the image was used by Hard Rock band Guns N' Roses for their 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. Extracts of the image, chiefly the two figures to the left of Plotinus (figure 17), were extracted by New York artist Mark Kostabi for the cover art.
Another reproduction can be found in the University of North Carolina at Asheville's Highsmith University Student Union.
A reproduction of this painting can also be found at Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity's National Headquarters, the Levere Memorial Temple, in the Panhellenic Room located in Evanston, IL.
1. ''The School of Athens, "Who is Who?"'' by Michael Lahanas
2. the interpretation of this figure as Sodoma is probably in error as Sodoma was 33 at the time of painting, while Raphael's teacher, Perugino was a renowned painter and aged about 60 at the time of this painting, consistent with the image.
3. Information on Old Cabell Hall from University of Virginia
★ The School of Athens at the ''Web Gallery of Art''
★ The School of Athens (interactive map)
★ The School of Athens (interactive map)
★ The School of Athens — original cartoon at the ''Ambrosiana Gallery, Milan''
★ The School of Athens reproduction at UNC Asheville
'''The School of Athens''' or "Scuola di Atene" in Italian is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1510 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The ''Stanza della Segnatura'' was the first of the rooms to be decorated, and ''The School of Athens'' the second painting to be finished after ''La disputa''.
| Contents |
| The painting |
| The philosophers |
| Reproductions |
| References |
| External links |
| Gallery |
The painting
Because it was positioned over the philosophical section of the library of Pope Julius II, ''The School of Athens'' shows the greatest philosophers, scientists and mathematicians of classical antiquity. Plato and Aristotle, the Greek philosophers that were considered most important, are standing in the center of the composition at the top of the steps. Plato is holding his ''Timaeus''. Aristotle is carrying a copy of his ''Nichomachean Ethics''. Their gestures correspond to their interests in the philosophical field — Plato is pointing upwards towards Heaven and Aristotle is gesturing towards the earth.
Diogenes is lying carefree on the steps before them to show his philosophical attitude: he despised all material wealth and the lifestyle associated with it. To the left, the man leaning on the block is Heraclites, meant to be Michelangelo. This figure was an afterthought: it was not in the original cartoon. In 1510, Raphael snuck into the Sistine Chapel to view Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling by candle light. He was so awed by the unfinished work that he added Michelangelo after the manner of his depiction of the Prophet Jeremiah, to show his respect for the artist.
Raphael's self portrait is at the far lower-right of the fresco, the young man with brown hair staring straight out at the audience. On the left of the painting a girl-like figure, dressed in white, is also staring out at the audience. It is thought to represent Hypatia of Alexandria. Romantic legend has it that the model was Raphael's love, Margherita. Other interpretations, however, claim that it is a portrait of the young Francesco Maria I della Rovere. One of Raphael's contemporary portraits appears to show the same androgynous figure from a similar angle.
The philosophers
The identity of some of the philosophers in the picture, such as Plato or Aristotle, is uncontroversial, but scholars disagree on many of the other figures. According to Lahanas,[1] they are usually identified as follows:
? —
2: —
3: Unknown — (?)
4: or or ? — ?
5: — ?
6: — ?
7: or ? — ?
8: or ? — ?
9: — ( or Raphael's mistress Margherita.)
10: or ? — ?
11: ? — ?
12: — ?
13: — ().
14: holding the '' — ( ).
15: holding the '' — ?
16: — ?
17: ? — ?
18: or with students — ( )?
19: or ? — (Baldassare Castiglione or Pietro Bembo).
20: — ?
R: Apelles — ().
21: Protogenes — ( or Perugino)[2].
]]
Reproductions
A reproduction of the fresco can be seen in the auditorium of Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia. Produced in 1900 by George W. Breck to replace an older reproduction that was destroyed in a fire in 1895, it is four inches off scale from the original, because the Vatican would not allow identical reproductions of its art works. [3]
Another reproduction, by Neide, is in the Königsberg Cathedral, Kaliningrad.
More recently the image was used by Hard Rock band Guns N' Roses for their 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. Extracts of the image, chiefly the two figures to the left of Plotinus (figure 17), were extracted by New York artist Mark Kostabi for the cover art.
Another reproduction can be found in the University of North Carolina at Asheville's Highsmith University Student Union.
A reproduction of this painting can also be found at Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity's National Headquarters, the Levere Memorial Temple, in the Panhellenic Room located in Evanston, IL.
References
1. ''The School of Athens, "Who is Who?"'' by Michael Lahanas
2. the interpretation of this figure as Sodoma is probably in error as Sodoma was 33 at the time of painting, while Raphael's teacher, Perugino was a renowned painter and aged about 60 at the time of this painting, consistent with the image.
3. Information on Old Cabell Hall from University of Virginia
External links
★ The School of Athens at the ''Web Gallery of Art''
★ The School of Athens (interactive map)
★ The School of Athens (interactive map)
★ The School of Athens — original cartoon at the ''Ambrosiana Gallery, Milan''
★ The School of Athens reproduction at UNC Asheville
Gallery
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