THE PORTRAITS OF RAPHAEL’S CONTEMPORARIES IN THE CARTOON FOR THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS

Raphael chose to depict some characters with the appearance of well-known personalities of the time. For example, Plato’s features seem to be those of Leonardo da Vinci, the face of the character who represents the Orphics is the portrait of Fedra Inghirami, probably one of the thinkers who conceived the iconography of the Stanza della Segnatura; Bramante is portrayed in Euclid. There are therefore many historical characters that can be recognized and even many philosophers are clearly identifiable, for example Socrates, Diogenes the Cynic lying on the steps, according to the narration of Diogenes Laertius, there are Zoroaster and Ptolemy. It is interesting to see how the representation of the character who is generally seen as a tribute to Michelangelo is missing in the Cartoon.