The School of Athens

Biography of Raphael

"While we may term other works paintings, those of Raphael are living things; the flesh

palpitates, the breath comes and goes, every organ lives, life pulsates everywhere."

-- Vasari

Raphael was born Raffaello Santi or Raffaello Sanzio in Urbino on April 6, 1483, and received his early training in art from his father, the painter Giovanni Santi. In 1499 he went to Perugia, in Umbria, and became a student and assistant of the painter Perugino. Raphael imitated his master closely; their paintings of this period are executed in styles so similar that art historians have found it difficult to determine which were painted by Raphael. In 1504 Raphael moved to Florence, where he studied the work of such established painters of the time as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, learning their methods of representing the play of light and shade, anatomy, and dramatic action. In 1508 Raphael was called to Rome by Pope Julius II and commissioned to execute frescoes in four small stanze, or rooms, of the Vatican Palace. The second Vatican chamber, the Stanza d'Eliodoro, painted with the aid of Raphael's assistants, contains scenes representing the triumph of the Roman Catholic church over its enemies.

After the death of Pope Julius II in 1513, and the accession of Leo X, Raphael's influence and responsibilities increased. He was made chief architect of Saint Peter's Basilica in 1514, and a year later was appointed director of all the excavations of antiquities in and near Rome. Raphael died in Rome on his 37th birthday, April 6, 1520.

School of Athens

Brief History:

Raphael painted the School of Athens from-1510 - 1512. He was commissioned by pope Julius II, with the recommendation of Donato Bramante, the pope's architect, to work in the Vatican. His first work the School of Athens was loved so much by the pope that he commissioned Raphael to paint the entire papal suite. In the School of Athens, philosophers and intellects from different time periods are arranged as students in a school or academy where everyone is learning off each other. The Stanza della Segnatura was to be Julius' library which would house a small collection of books intended for his personal use. The walls of the first room, the Stanza della Segnatura, are decorated with scenes elaborating ideas suggested by personifications of Theology, Philosophy, and Poetry which appear on the ceiling. On the wall under Theology is the DisputÐo, representing a group discussing the mystery of the Trinity. The famous School of Athens, on the wall beneath Philosophy, portrays an open architectural space in which Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient philosophers are engaged in discourse. On the wall under Poetry is the Parnassus, in which the Greek god Apollo appears surrounded by the Muses and the great poets. (Paoletti, 347) Others describe the frescoes in the Stanze as "related to three fundamental ideas of Christian Platonism, The True, The Good and The Beautiful. The Disputa corresponds to theological or revealed truth, and the School of Athens to philosophical or rational truth; the frescoes of the Virtues, canon law and civil law correspond to the Good; and the Parnassus to the Beautiful." (Daley, 114)

The Intellects:

In the center of the painting is Plato on the left and Aristotle on the right. These two are showing the two parts within philosophy, Timaeus and Ethics. The other philosophers on the sides are 'corresponding to the separate schools of thought within the two major divisions, each carrying on the philosophical arguments for which they were famous (Fleming, 304). Plato: (428-c. 347 BC) was a Greek philosopher and one of the most creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy. Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the institution often described as the first European university. It provided a comprehensive curriculum, including such subjects as astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theory, and philosophy. Aristotle was the Academy's most prominent student. At the heart of Plato's philosophy is his theory of Forms, or Ideas. His view of knowledge, his ethical theory, his psychology, his concept of the state, and his perspective on art must be understood in terms of this theory. Raphael made him resemble Leonardo da Vinci because, firstly Leonardo was a big influence on him and his works and secondly Leonardo was a man of man talents or virtu's who had a huge impact on the world and the same can be said of Plato. Aristotle: (384-322 BC), Greek philosopher and scientist, who shares with Plato and Socrates the distinction of being the most famous of ancient philosophers. Aristotle, like Plato, made regular use of the dialogue in his earliest years at the Academy, but lacking Plato's imaginative gifts never found the form to his liking. His works on natural science include Physics, which gives a vast amount of information on astronomy, meteorology, plants, and animals. His writings on the nature, scope, and properties of being, were called the First Philosophy. Diogenes: (412-323 BC) Greek philosopher,. He was a founder of Cynicism, an ancient school of philosophy. He is said to have lived in a tub in Athens and to have wandered the streets with a lamp, seeking an honest man. In the picture is sitting by himself on the stairs, reading, and that could symbolize the years he spent alone. Euclid:(325-265)Greek mathematician who taught in Alexandria and who was probably the founder of its mathematical school. His chief work is the 13-volume Elements, which became the most widely known mathematical book of classical antiquity, and is still much used in geometry. The approach, which obeys his axioms, became known as Euclidian geometry. In the picture he is the one bending over writing on the slate and Raphael likens him to Donato Bramante most probably because he is was a highly skilled geometrical perspectives and this could be seen in his works. Zoroaster: (630-550 BC) was an ancient Persian prophet who founded the first world religion - Zoroastrianism. According to the prophet, man had been given the power to choose between good and evil and the end of the world would come when the forces of light would triumph and the saved souls rejoice in it's victory. In the picture he is holding a celestial sphere and that represents the comic strife between Ahura Mazda, the god of light and Ahriman, the principle of evil. Ptolemy: (87 -150 AD) He was an astronomer, mathematician and geographer. He codified