How does art mirror society?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

The School of Athens

The Renaissance painting I chose is titled "The School of Athens" or "Scuola di Atene." In Italy, it was one of the most famous oil paintings created by the Italian Renaissance artist, Raphael. It was painted for Pope Julius II and between 1510 and 1511 as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. 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 persons who are depicted. Unfortunately, Raphael did not leave any personal notes on this work but some of the persons can be identified. It was painted for Pope Julius II.

In this fresco, Raphael depicts the great philosophers and mathematicians (like Pythagoras, Plato and Socrates) of ancient Greece as colleagues in a timeless academy. The Renaissance was a time of asking questions and learning new things. Raphael's painting mirrors the ancient studies that were important to the people of the Renaissance.Raphael drew Socrates and Plato which are the philosophers. They looked the world with curiosity and they inquired about the world by asking questions. The result of asking questions was successful. The philosophers began to get more knowledge. Because of their knowledge from the hard work, people in the Renaissance were able to discover and invent new things. Raphael also drew Pythagoras in the painting which is philosopher, mathematician and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. He discovered the Pythagorean theorem. This discovery made the great development in math during the Renaissance.


I think Raphael wanted show the people that these people made the world in better life with great discoveries. I think Raphael made this painting to show people these are the people who made successful new discoveries.

Driving Forces of the Renaissance

Map of Italy during Renaissance

I think trading was the most crucial driving force during the Renaissance because the trading between the city states brought new ideas of ways to develop their city sate and they were able to discover the new land while they were trading and because of trading, they were able to build a country like we are here today.