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"The decisive question
may turn out to be not so much why Raphael represented Philosophy in
terms of philosophers but why he decided to represent those philosophers
in precisely the way he did. For the fifty-eight figures in Raphael's
fresco are not distributed at random in the grand space in which we
encounter them. They are carefully organized into three basic groups." (Most, 157)
"At the center stands a symmetrical
pair of figures (Plato and Aristotle). Each one holds a thick folio
in his left hand against his left hip these books are the only ones
in the whole wall fresco that bear titles and each one gestures conspicuously
with his right hand. Each one looks toward the other; this is the only
dialogue in the whole painting in which two interlocutors speak and
look only at each other. The parallelism and complementarily of this
central pair is echoed and deepened by the figures who surround them
in two rows in straight lines on their left and right and who follow
this central dialogue with passionate intensity and even involuntary
astonishment, thereby programming our own reaction." (Most, 157-158)
"The pair on our right moves
backward into the depths of the building, while the one on our left
moves forward toward us like the central pair." (Most, 158)
In the upper side are represented the most significant philosophers. The first group represents the Sophists being expelled by a Socratic philosopher. Then we find the Socratics, followed by the Platonists, with the majestic figure of Plato with his finger pointed to the sky, that is to the Transcendent. The beautiful group of Aristotle and his followers is represented as being in harmony with Plato. (Reale)
At the centre of the right end side, after a master guiding a disciple of his, there is the great Plotinus, never recognised in the past, whom Reale succeeds in identifying using rigorous arguments. The last three philosophers on the right represent Cynics of a later period. (Reale)
"The axial symmetry of this central arrangement is confirmed and continued on both sides in a series of other characters, who are almost all located at the same level, on the top step, on the floor of the building. On our left, the forward movement on the left circumambulating pair is prolonged into one group of nine figures made up of six closely packed together (Socrates and his listeners) and then three at some distance; on our right, the backward motion of the rich circumambulating pair is again followed by nine figures, one group of three extending downward toward us onto the steps (Diogenes and two others) and six others spaced out along the main floor toward the right. The symmetrical disposition of these two extensions of the central group is emphasized by the balance of two other figures: near the extreme left one youth, his head turned away from us over his shoulder, comes running onto the scene just as the extreme right another youth, his head turned toward us over his shoulder, is hastily rushing off." (Most, 158) We believe that Raphael must have been using some concept of symmetry in his painting to have such symmetrical dispositions in his painting. We can analyze all we want but Raphael does not leave anything in his painting explaining the use of symmetry in The School of Athens.
"There are some painted figures which do not belong among the representatives in science, philosophy and theology. One of them is the angel who holds the Pythagorean tablet. One figure is hastening right out of the picture. Another enters it at the left side varying books with him. The upper part of his body is unclothed. He shows an ideal appearance by his nakedness and his loose hair, contrasting him with all the other members of the assembly. Such figures may be identified with Vasari's angels." (Gutman, 427)
"Among others we see Socrates (one of the few figures of the painting that can be derived from older representations of this thinker) explaining something to his attentive listeners, among whom the martial figure of Alcibiades (or Xenophon?) is conspicuous. The group around the pillar, consisting of people of different ages and sex, represents grammar, even according to the old commentators." (Gutman, 425)
"Of the important philosophers, only the alleged identification of Socrates is based upon archaeological evidence-and such an exception should raise questions." (Bell, 641) "There are no attributes or other symbolic material to confirm Bellori's identification [Of Socrates]. In spite of these serious deficiencies, historians still insist that this is Socrates because he appears to bear a slight resemblance to [a] bust [of Socrates]." (Bell, 642)
Below Aristotle [not pictures here] there is the wonderful figure of Diogenes the Cynic sitting on the second step: the only philosopher of the Hellenistic period represented by Raphael, since he summarises to a certain extent also the message of the Stoics. (Reale)
"On the other side of this central philosopher [Socrates] are two well-dressed young men who thus far have eluded a convincing identification. These figures can now be identified as Socrates' famous students Crito and Apollodorus, who, according to Plato, were at his bedside reacting with shock and disbelief to the impending death of their teacher." (Bell, 642)
"The new identification of Socrates proposed here places the three most important Greek philosophers in the center of the School of Athens, where they are depicted without any intervening figures between them." (Bell, 643)
"The central group is formed by Plato and Aristotle. Their appearance corresponds, again, exactly with the idea of their philosophy as Bonaventura expressed it." (Gutman, 425)
Below Aristotle there is the wonderful figure of Diogenes the Cynic sitting on the second step: the only philosopher of the Hellenistic period represented by Raphael, since he summarises to a certain extent also the message of the Stoics. (Reale)
"In the right foreground Raphael has placed a second group of figures, entirely separate from the first group. The isolation of this second group is not only a matter of location, the figures are all one the lowest level to the extreme right but also of gesture and posture: no figure outside this group takes any notice of its existence; no figure inside the group seems aware of the other characters in the scene; all the figures within the group are involved only with others within the same group; and the two at the extreme left and the two at the extreme right face inwards, sealing this groups autonomy. This group too is made up of nine figures, divided into five crouching figures and four standing ones. The erect pair on the right are portraits of Raphael himself and of a colleague; the other two hold up spheres; one (Ptolemy) terrestrial, the other celestial so conspicuously that they are fully visible for the other figures and for us. The other five are intensely engaged in the solution of a geometrical problem and provide a limpid model of the successful transmission of knowledge. The teacher spares no pain in kneeling uncomfortably so that the tablet upon which he has placed his compass can be entirely visible to the four students who are watching his demonstration, and these latter present four successive steps in the process of understanding, from pained bafflement to wild surmise to hopeful questioning to satisfied certainty." (Most, 158-159)
"In concert with the balancing of opposites to create a harmonious unity as seen in other characters in this fresco, suggested identities for these peripheral characters are Apelles and Protogenes." (Joost-Gaugier, 781) Apelles was the first painter to teach that Geometry was a concern for painters. He was well known for his extraordinarily fine lines. Protogenes was a ship-painter and was a careful painter of nature. "Thus Apelles was represented by Raphael, a not-unlikely proposition since Vasari referred to Raphael as the "new Apelles." (Joost-Gaugier, 782) "There is, however, the possibility that Protogenes is represented by an artist for whom Vasari provided no portrait. Such a possibility exists in Raphael's close friend and countryman, Timoteo da Urbino." (Joost-Gaugier, 782)
"The proposed presence of Ptolemy and Strabo in The School of Athens reaffirms the antiquity and Hellenism of its characters. In this light it would be odd indeed to insist - or assume - that the two figures to the far right are meant to represent contemporary Italian painters, Raphael and Sodoma, Raphael and Perugino, or Raphael and Pinturicchio. Nonetheless, the hats they wear suggest these characters are, in fact, painters." (Joost-Gaugier, 780)
"The portrayal of Ptolemy and Strabo doubtless presented a problem for Raphael because no antique portrait of Ptolemy was known in Renaissance times; thus Ptolemy could be seen from the back, since his identification could rest on his crown and his terrestrial globe. Early printed editions of Strabo, even those that included woodblock or engraved borders or initials, did not contain portraits. Because Strabo was to be portrayed full face, Raphael may have used an appropriate contemporary as a stand-in, just as he employed Bramante for Euclid. Though Strabo appears to bear some resemblance to Leonardo da Vinci - himself a cartographer with "celestial" interests - as he might have appeared in his mid 50s when Raphael knew him in Florence, the high broad brow, straight nose, and prominent eyes suggest instead that he is represented by Castiglione, whose image is well known through Raphael's portrait, now in the Louve." (Joost-Gaugier, 779)
"We see, accordingly, at the right side Euclid and his group as representatives of Mathematics, Ptolemy and Zoroaster with their globes as representatives of Physics, and, on the higher level, the metaphysics." (Gutman, 424)
"It is possible to recognize other metaphysicians too, for instance, Empedocles [upper right hand corner], the old priestlike man with the walking-staff." (Gutman, 425)
"In obvious ways the last
group (that of Pythagoras), in the near foreground on our left, balances
the second one on our right. This group too, like the previous one,
has no contact with any of the outside figures, seems to be concerned
only with itself, and is bracketed at its extremities by figures who
look inwards into the group. It is too divided into two subgroups, with
its outer set less numerous that its inner one. But in other regards
this third group could not present a more striking contrast with the
second one. If the group in the right foreground embodies the transparency
of the transmission of knowledge the globes are held up for all to
see, the tablet is laid out where the students can easily follow their
teacher's demonstration the group on the left suggests instead the
urgent but unsuccessful attempt to penetrate a resolute secretiveness.
Its tablet illustrating Pythagorean number and musical theory is being
displayed only to Pythagoras, the two men crouching behind him strain
to peer over his shoulder at what he is writing, and the books depicted
reveal nothing on their contents. The same secrecy is implied by the
subgroup at the extreme left, where instead of an open conversation
between equal partners on objects we can immediately identify (as at
the far right), we see one central figure busy writing into a book what,
precisely, we can have no idea while three others admire him. The
sense of mystery is deepened by the beautiful young man, dressed all
in white, who stands near Pythagoras and stares directly as us." (Most, 159-160)
"Raphael had to show the draft of the fresco to a Bishop, who asked him "Who is this beautiful lady"? The answer: "This is Hypatia of Alexandria, she had been professor of philosophy, mathematics and astronomy at the University of Alexandria and was certainly one of the best thinkers ever". "Ah that one!" said the Bishop, "but she had been a threat to Christianity. No, she cannot be on this fresco." But Raphael wanted Hypatia and took a risk. He repainted the dark skin of the Egyptian lady to a very pale white and changed the face so that it now resembled a beloved nephew of the Pope. The Bishop did not realize that he was duped or maybe did not want to confront the Pope. Our Hypatia on the fresco was saved.
The story goes that Raphael had originally placed Hypatia between Heraclitus and Diogenes. Then as an additional disguise had moved her between Parmenides and Pythagoras where she is since then.
Hypatia was a neo-platonist and would want to discuss "eternal prima causa" with Parmenides. As a mathematician she would talk shop with Pythagoras." (Vispix)
With the first group of characters on the lower left side, around the base where a large column should be built, Raphael represents the rituals of an Orphic ceremony. Indeed Orphism had been one of the fundations of Greek thought (as confirmed by Plato in Phaedon). The great Pre-Socratics of the nearby group are those inspired by Orphism: Pythagoras, Empedocles and Heraclitus. (Reale)
"Bellori identified the man in the left foreground as Vasari's St. Matthew, with Pythagoras. He interpreted, therefore, the whole group of the left foreground as a group of arithmeticians and musicians and eliminated the theological element from the picture. He thus, however, created new difficulties. It proved impossible to identify all the single members of this group with arithmeticians and musicians. Also, the placing of such a group on the side on which the trivium (Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric) was obviously represented seemed unsatisfactory. Above all, it became impossible to reconcile the new content with the artistic composition and to understand the special accentuation which this group enjoys within the total composition." (Gutman, 422)
"The sitting man writing in his book before the Pythagorean tablet is sufficiently characterized by the angel beside him as St. Matthew, if we follow Vasari's description. It is now possible to identify the two men at his left with St. Mark and St. Luke, and the fair youth, generally identified with Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino, with St. John. It is of course, possible that Raphael gave him the features of the Duke. He has no book with him as they have, for he is the visionary who appears. The two men looking into St. Matthews book are, then, representatives of the Jewish and Mohammedan theology." (Gutman, 423)
"After having accepted the interpretation of the group of the left foreground as a group of evangelists, we can easily understand the character of the other groups of the painting. Raphael follows exactly the doctrines of the medieval Franciscan philosophy. He differentiates between the natural and the rational science quite in the senses of the Franciscans. Their classification issued from the Bonaventura who subdivided the natural sciences into Mathematics, Physics, and Metaphysics, and the rational sciences into Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric." (Gutman, 424)
"A focus upon the central
figures unifies the composition by directing the glance of all or almost
all of the members of the various parts of its admiring audience (and
hence ours as well) toward a central epiphany. But in The School of
Athens the courtly admiration for the central pair of Plato and Aristotle
is restricted to the immediate retinue of the chorus of listeners surrounding
them, while the other groups in the left and right foreground take no
interest whatsoever in the proceedings in the central section; they
are autonomous groups, not admirers of the central one." (Most, 160-161)
“In his Journey to Italy Goethe
writes that one can not look at great paintings like the School of
Athens only as a whole, since "the pleasure derived from the
first impression is incomplete; only when one has seen and studied every
detail, slowly and part by part, the enjoyment is complete". (Reale)
