THE CARTOON FOR THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS, THE COMPOSITION OF THE SCENE

It is interesting to see how Raphael chose to depict the images of the Philosophy not in a stereotyped or fixed way but with a great dynamic of looks and gestures. It is truly a school, in the sense that there is a discussion, a research. A research starting from empirical subjects – mathematics, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy – and then it goes up to speculation. These four steps, separating the characters who are in the lowest level from the highest one, precisely represent the liberal arts. At the top, we find the speculation of Aristotle and Plato.