Soulscape 1, The School of Athens - Raphael
From My Upcoming Contemplation Book: Soulscape
We Can Look to Art as the Heart of Civilization
In Raphael’s The School of Athens, we see a gathering of the greatest minds of ancient Greece, with figures like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo—Raphael’s contemporaries of the Renaissance—cleverly integrated into the scene. Leonardo, portrayed as Plato pointing upward to the heavens, symbolizes the realm of conceptual idealism. Michelangelo appears as the brooding figure of the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus. Seated next to a block of marble and dressed in a workingman’s clothes, he represents the union of industrious work with the balance of opposing forces. By blending these Renaissance luminaries with classical philosophers, Raphael bridges the wisdom of the past with the brilliance of his own time, reminding us how connecting past and present genius can inspire the high points of civilization.
Art is the window to our future.
Beautiful ❤️