Raphael's Frescoes in the Stanza della Segnatura

Overview

• Location: Stanza della Segnatura, papal apartments
• Period: High Renaissance
• Notable Artists Nearby: Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel)
• Original Use: Library

Frescoes and Themes

• Four Walls Depict:
  • Philosophy (Sciences)
  • Theology
  • Poetry
  • Justice
• Ceiling: Allegorical figures representing the four branches of human knowledge

Unique Context

• Historical Context: Liberal moment in church history where humanist and classical learning merged with church teachings
• Commissioned by: Pope Julius II

Detail of School of Athens (Philosophy)

• Central Figures:
  • Plato: Older, holding Timaeus, pointing upward; symbolizes ethereal and theoretical realms
  • Aristotle: Younger, holding The Ethics, palm down; symbolizes observable and physical world
  • Dress Symbolism:
    • Plato: Red (fire) and purple (ether) - elements without weight
    • Aristotle: Blue (water) and brown (earth) - elements with gravity
• Philosophers Depicted:
  • Plato's Side: Idealists like Pythagoras
  • Aristotle's Side: Practical thinkers like Euclid (modeled on Bramante)
  • Others: Virtually every known great philosopher and mathematician
• Raphael’s Technique: Use of linear perspective, creating space for Plato and Aristotle’s forward movement
• Heraclitus: Modeled after Michelangelo; added later to the fresco
• Raphael’s Self-Inclusion: Depicted among astronomers

Symbolic Architecture and Figures

• Architectural Style: Resembles ancient Roman (coffered barrel vaults, pilasters) and Bramantian (geometric design)
• Sculptures:
  • Platonic Side: Apollo (Sun, Music, Poetry)
  • Aristotelian Side: Athena (War, Wisdom)

Raphael’s Style

• Movement and Grouping: Fluid movement, lack of stiffness, figures grouped like Leonardo’s Last Supper
• Favorite Depictions: Intimate scenes like students learning together

Opposite Fresco: The Dispute (Theology)

• Theological Theme: Study of divine figures divided between heavenly and earthly
• Central Figures: God the Father, Christ, Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, Holy Spirit
• Organization: Heavenly figures in upper circles; earthly figures (Popes, Bishops, Cardinals) below
• Symbolic Bread (Host): Link between heaven and earth

Celebration of Knowledge

• Main Idea: Celebration of various aspects of human knowledge in a setting that promoted learning and intellectual exchange