School Of Athens Painting by Raphael | Meaning & Complete Analysis

School Of Athens Painting by Raphael | Meaning & Complete Analysis

What is the School of Athens :

The School of Athens is a painting by Raphael that represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers, and scientists from different generations gathered together in one place sharing their ideas and learning from each other.

School of Athens

Complete analysis & meaning of every character in School of Athens :

Plato in School of Athens :

In the center of the painting are two major characters, Plato(on the left wearing a red cape) & his student Aristotle.

  • Plato’s gesture toward the sky: This indicates his Theory of Forms. This philosophy argues that the “real” world is not the physical one but a spiritual realm of ideas filled with abstract concepts and ideas.
  • The physical realm, for Plato, is merely the material, imperfect things we see and interact with on a daily basis.
  • He is also a student of Socrates & teacher of Aristotle.
  • Lived between 427 – 347 BC.
Plato in School of Athens

Aristotle in School of Athens :

  • Aristotle holds his hand down because, in his philosophy, the only reality is the one that we can see and experience by sight and touch (exactly the reality dismissed by Plato).
  • Aristotle’s Ethics (the book that he holds) “emphasized the relationships, justice, friendship, and government of the human world and the need to study it.”
  • Student of Plato
  • Lived between 384 BC–322 BC

Pythagoras in School of Athens :

Remember the Pythagoras Theoren from school: The Hypotenuse square is equal to the sum of the squares of the – other two sides in a triangle, yea that guy.

  • Pythagoras is well known for his mathematical (Pythogoras theorem) and scientific discoveries, he also firmly believed in metempsychosis.
  • This philosophy states that every soul is immortal, and upon death, moves to a new physical body. In this light, it makes sense that he would be placed on Plato’s side of the fresco.
  • He lived between 570 – 490 BC.

Euclid in School of Athens :

  • Mirroring Pythagoras’ position on the other side, Euclid is bent over demonstrating something with a compass.
  • His young students eagerly try to grasp the lessons he’s teaching them.
  • The Greek mathematician is known as the father of geometry, and his love of concrete theorems with exact answers demonstrates why he represents Aristotle’s side of The School of Athens.
  • Lived between 325 BC – 265 BC.

Ptolemy in School of Athens :

  • Holding a sphere of earth, Ptolemy is in the lower right corner of the painting.
  • Ptolemy tried to mathematically explain the movements of the planets, so he was seen holding a globe.
  • His theory of how they all moved around the earth remained the authority until Copernicus and Kepler figured out (in the late 16th century) that the earth was not at the center of the universe.
  • He lived between 100 AD – 170 AD.

Diogenes in School of Athens :

  • Diogenes is the founder of the Cynic philosophy, he was a controversial figure in his day, living a simple life and criticizing cultural conventions. Dogs.
  • Cynicism philosophy: The purpose of life is to live a life of Virtue in agreement with Nature (which calls for only the bare necessities required for existence).
  • This means rejecting all conventional desires for health, wealth, power, and fame, and living a life free from all possessions and property.
  • Rejecting the societal measures of success. Truly free.
  • Lived between 384 -320 BC.

Heraclitus in School of Athens :

  • Heraclitus is a self-taught pioneer of wisdom.
  • Heraclitus considered fire as the Arche, the fundamental element that gave rise to the other elements, perhaps because living people are warm.
  • He believed that Fire & Ice, The opposites of the same thing & basic components of the universe.
  • He did not enjoy the company of others, making him one of the few isolated characters in the painting.
  • Lived between 535 – 475 BC.

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