Raphael’s School of Athens Explained for Philosophers

By

Taylor Marshall

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The painting above is Scuola di Atene (“School of Athens”) by Raphael. Raphael likely painted it in 1511 in one of the rooms in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican.

Many believe that the hand gestures of Plato and Aristotle (in the center of the painting) denote two ways of doing metaphysics. Plato points to the heavens–Aristotle to the earth. If look closely, Plato is holding a book: Timaeus, one of his most celestial and abstract dialogues. Aristotle is holding his Nichomachean Ethics, a rather terrestrial treatise.

Here are the philosophers featured by Raphael in the Scuola di Atene by number:

1: Zeno of Citium 2: Epicurus 3: Federico II of Mantua? 4: Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles?

5: Averroes 6: Pythagoras 7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great? 8: Antisthenes or Xenophon? 9: Hypatia 10: Aeschines or Xenophon?

11: Parmenides? 12: Socrates 13: Heraclitus (as Michelangelo) 14: Plato (as Leonardo da Vinci) 15: Aristotle

16: Diogenes of Sinope? 17: Plotinus? 18: Euclid or Archimedes with students 19: Strabo or Zoroaster? 20: Ptolemy? R: Apelles (as Raphael) 21: Protogenes

For the all the ladies, the only woman to make it into the painting was Hypatia who is located at #9.

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About the Author

Taylor Marshall is the Adjunct Instructor in Philosophy at the University of Dallas.

26 Comments

1. Nicholas Polsinelli

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 5:08 PM

   All the smart people of the world… in one place… epic.
2. Michael Grosso

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 5:08 PM

   Hi! See you in class…
3. Kurtis

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 5:26 PM

   Let’s get it started!!!!!!
4. Taylor Marshall

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 6:02 PM

   Epic, indeed.
5. Bethany Roessler

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 6:19 PM

   hello
6. Michael Applegate

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 6:45 PM

   Hey
7. Greg Deschler

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 6:47 PM

   It’s good to be here…
8. Zachary Packard

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 6:48 PM

   hello
9. Charlie La Costa

   Posted September 2, 2009 at 7:13 PM

   Hi everybody
10. Preston Quintela

    Posted September 2, 2009 at 7:46 PM

    Hello
11. Christian Mondragon

    Posted September 2, 2009 at 9:28 PM

    The class is going to be great this semester. I can feel it.
12. Danielle Fuchs

    Posted September 2, 2009 at 11:57 PM

    wohooooo…
13. Christen Racciato

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 12:23 AM

    I like how the largest figure was modeled on Michelangelo.
14. Jenna Grable

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 1:01 AM

    This painting was better in person
15. Emily Grewe

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 1:09 AM

    Yay philosophy!
16. Meredith Marucci

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 2:45 AM

    Looks familiar.
17. Bryan Sendelbach

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 6:16 AM

    I think i’ve seen this before….
18. Van

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    Hello
19. Heather Nelson

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 5:04 PM

    Hi
20. Joe ZImmermann

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 5:15 PM

    hello
21. Magdalen Beiting

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 6:21 PM

    Hi! This class is going to be awesome!
22. rafael barrientos

    Posted September 3, 2009 at 10:43 PM

    looking forward to class
23. Ruth Broe

    Posted September 4, 2009 at 1:35 AM

    hey
24. Ryan Meske

    Posted September 4, 2009 at 2:13 AM

    Hello!
25. Melanie Neal

    Posted September 4, 2009 at 2:44 AM

    HI !
26. Cory Grant

    Posted September 4, 2009 at 5:49 AM

    Ciao!