Among the wonders to see at the Vatican museums are the larger forms of the Titans of Greek philosophy. It is well known that in the center of the Raphael fresco The school of Athenswhich dominates a wall of the twelve Stanze di Raffaello in the apostolic palace, stands Plato and Aristotle. In reality, of course, the two were not contemporaries: more than three decades separated the death of the first from the birth of the latter. But in the artistic vision of Raphael, the great men (and perhaps a great woman) of all generations meet under the banner of learning, from anximander to Averroes, from euclid to euclide and parmenides in Pythagoras.
Even in this company, the silhouette seated at the bottom of the steps attracts attention. There are several reasons for this, and the Galerist-Youtuber James Payne exhibits them in His new Great art explained video on The school of Athens above.
He seems to represent Heraclitus, the presocratic philosopher associated with ideas such as the change and unity of opposites, and a natural candidate for inclusion in what is equivalent to a portrait of trans-time class of philosophy. But Raphael seems to have added it later, after this section of the image was already over. A clever spectator may also note that Heraclitus having been made in a slightly different style and more muscular than that of other philosophers in the frame – a more style like The one exposed in the Sistine Chapel.
In fact, Michelangelo was at work on his Sistine chapel frescoes At the same time, Raphael painted The school of Athens. It is quite possible, as Payne says, that Raphaël stole an overview of the amazing work of Michelangelo, then went back and added Michelangitus to his own composition in homage. There was a precedent for this choice: Raphael had already modeled Socrates after Leonardo Da Vinci (who was, incredibly, also alive and active at the time), and even made the former painter Apelles as a self -friendly. With The school of AthensSaid Payne, Raphael “positioned the ancient philosophers as precursors of Christian truth”, in accordance with the thought of the Renaissance. In a more subtle way, he also pointed out how the genius of the past lives – or is rather reborn – in the present.
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Based in Seoul, Colin MArshall Written and broadcastTS on cities, language and culture. His projects include the substack newsletter Books on cities And the book The stateless city: a walk through Los Angeles from the 21st century. Follow it on the social network formerly known as Twitter in @ColinmArshall.