The School of Athens — In Our Time, Mar. 26, 2009
This show touches on a number of different interesting points. It only briefly discusses the fresco itself as a fresco. The bulk of the show is focused on where and how pagan philosophy found itself inside the walls of the Vatican. It’s noted that while the other paintings in the room are not often discussed, they form a cohesive whole. Most importantly, directly opposite the School of Athens is the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament which is a representation of great religious thinking and sets the whole of ancient philosophy against the slightly more modern (at the time) school of Christian thought. The discussion stays focused on the pagans though and what about primarily Plato and Aristotle interested Julius II specifically and Renaissance thought more generally.
There is, I think, at least one or two more shows that could be done on this fresco and its place in its own time and in the history of art. There is Plato and Aristotle in the painting, and there is Raphael (or Leonardo) and Michelangelo during the Renaissance.
Guests:
- Angie Hobbs
- Valery Rees
- Jill Kraye