#vasari

House of the Renaissance artist Giorgio Vasari. He decorated his own house. Arezzo, Italy.

If someday somehow you obtain the power to step into any painting, then I highly suggest that you should take that first step into Raphael’s “School of Athens”. I mean, seriously, it’s where legendary, and some are quite mythical, philosophers and thinkers casually mingle in one massive hall, as if it was the classiest and most epic TED Talk ever.

Raphael basically teleports you straight into the midst of the gathering of the greatest smarties in the history of human civilization. He didn’t merely slap paints on the wall of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, he was crafting a passionate tribute, or, if I may, a love letter to the exploration of science and knowledge upon the altar of science.

Each character on the fresco was displaying peak spirit of curiosity, wrapped in togas and intellectual banter. At the center of the stage, we can see Plato, holding a copy of his Timaeus, indulging himself in deep conversation with his pupil, Aristotle.

Not to mention how Raphael depicted the Renaissance architectural marvel in the background which, according to Giorgio Vasari in his biography series The Lives of the Artists, was consulted with and inspired by the works of Donato Bramante, an Italian architect that puts up the basic design of St. Peter’s Basilica, which then executed by none other than Michaelangelo Buonarroti. Raphael also paid homage to the Ancient Greek antiquities by putting sculptures of Apollo, the Greek god of light, archery, and music, and Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.

Raphael perfectly captured the essence of the Renaissance spirit in this work. As we know, the Renaissance was all about reviving the classics, celebrating individuality and humanism, and having a strong will to dive head-first into the pool of knowledge and wisdom. It was a remarkable visual composition that expressed the Renaissance thirst for human discovery.

Quick fact: some of the Renaissance figures were featured in this work, particularly people that were, in some way, Raphael found inspiring or influential. Some of these figures are: Leonardo da Vinci as Plato

Michelangelo as Heraclitus

Donato Bramante as Euclid

Timoteo Viti (Raphael’s mentor) and Raphael himself

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Stay curious, ciao!