the papal apartments in the Apos-
tolic Palace of the Vatican (MAP
24-1). Of the suite’s several rooms
(stanze), Raphael painted the
Stanza della Segnatura (Room of
the Signature—the papal library,
where Julius II signed official doc-
uments) and the Stanza d’Elio-
doro (Room of Heliodorus—the
pope’s private audience room,
named for one of the paintings).
His pupils completed the others,
following his sketches. On the
four walls of the Stanza della Seg-
natura, under the headings Theol-
ogy, Law (Justice),Poetry,and Phi-
losophy,Raphael presented images
that symbolized and summed up
Western learning as Renaissance
society understood it. The frescoes refer to the four branches of hu-
man knowledge and wisdom while pointing out the virtues and the
learning appropriate to a pope. Given Julius II’s desire for recognition
as both a spiritual and temporal leader, it is appropriate that the The-
ologyand Philosophyfrescoes face each other. The two images present
a balanced picture of the pope—as a cultured, knowledgeable indi-
vidual and as a wise, divinely ordained religious authority.
In Raphael’s Philosophymural (commonly known as School of
Athens,FIG. 22-9) the setting is not a “school” but a congregation of
the great philosophers and scientists of the ancient world. Raphael
depicted these luminaries, revered by Renaissance humanists, con-
versing and explaining their various theories and ideas. The setting
is a vast hall covered by massive vaults that recall ancient Roman ar-
chitecture—and approximate the appearance of the new Saint Pe-
ter’s (FIG. 24-5) in 1509, when Raphael began the fresco. Colossal
statues of Apollo and Athena, patron deities of the arts and of wis-
dom, oversee the interactions. Plato and Aristotle serve as the central
figures around whom Raphael carefully arranged the others. Plato
holds his book Timaeus and points to Heaven, the source of his in-
spiration, while Aristotle carries his book Nicomachean Ethics and
gestures toward the earth, from which his observations of reality
sprang. Appropriately, ancient philosophers, men concerned with
the ultimate mysteries that transcend this world, stand on Plato’s
side. On Aristotle’s side are the philosophers and scientists interested
in nature and human affairs. At the lower left, Pythagoras writes as a
servant holds up the harmonic scale. In the foreground, Heraclitus
(probably a portrait of Raphael’s great contemporary, Michelangelo)
broods alone. Diogenes sprawls on the steps. At the right, students
surround Euclid, who demonstrates a theorem. Euclid may be a por-
trait of the architect Bramante, whom Julius II had recently commis-
sioned to design a new Saint Peter’s (FIGS. 22-23and 22-24) to re-
place the Constantinian basilica (FIG. 11-9). At the extreme right,
just to the right of the astronomers Zoroaster and Ptolemy, both
holding globes, Raphael included his own portrait.586 Chapter 22 ITALY,1500 TO 160022-10Raphael,Galatea,Sala
di Galatea, Villa Farnesina, Rome,
Italy, ca. 1513. Fresco, 9 8 7 5 .
Based on a poem by Poliziano,
Raphael’s fresco depicts Galatea
fleeing from Polyphemus. The
painting, made for the banker
Agostino Chigi’s private palace,
celebrates human beauty and
zestful love.
1 ft.