School of Athens.. by fernanda munguia

"School of Athens"
By Raphael Sanzio. Stanza della Segnatura.
Sep/26

After Raphael had been welcomed by Pope Julius, he started to paint in the Stanza della Segnatura a fresco showing the theologians reconciling Philosophy and Astrology with Theology, in which are portraits of all the sages of the world shown disputing among themselves in various ways.

The original name of the fresco actually is CAUSARUM COGNITIO (Knowledge of Causes) but it is called "School of Athens" from a 17th century guidebook.

School of Athens.
arquivolta.blog. web. sep/26

The School of Athens was painted by Raphael Sanzio or Raffaello Santi (1483 - 1520) for Pope Julius II (1503 - 1513) when he was 27 years old. In this fresco, Raphael depicts the great philosophers and mathematicians of ancient Greece as colleagues in a timeless academy:

Plato is in the center pointing his finger to the heavens while holding the Timaeus. Nexto to him, his younger pupil Aristotle holding a copy of his Ethics while describing the eart and the wide realm of moral teaching, Pythagoras contemplates his system of proportions at the lower left and Euclid draws a circle on a slate at the lower right.

The Fresco of Raphael's School of Athens is a masterpiece of Art. However, over the centuries it has posed many problems to know all details of the person who are depicted. Unfortunately Raphael did not leave any personal notes on this work, but some of the persons can be identified. 

The work shows that Raphael was an educated person, had some knowledge of Greek philosophy and science. We can consider "The School of Athens" as a "visualization of knowledge".

After Raphael finished his work, the pope was fascinated, so Raphael received the commission to paint the entire papal suite.

citations: 

Mlahanas. web. sep/25

Agutie.homestead. web. sep/25

The hellenic world. web. sep/25