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Original fileThis 17th-century engraving is a reproduction of Raphael's famous Vatican fresco, depicting the greatest minds of antiquity gathered in an ideal academy. Plato and Aristotle stand at the center, surrounded by figures like Pythagoras writing in a book, Euclid demonstrating geometry with a compass, and Diogenes resting on the steps. A large Latin inscription at the bottom left reinterprets the scene as St. Paul preaching to the philosophers at the Areopagus in Athens.
The work serves as a visual encyclopedia of the 'Prisca Sapientia' (Ancient Wisdom), portraying the lineage of thinkers central to the Neoplatonic and natural philosophical traditions. It reflects the Renaissance project of reconciling classical pagan philosophy with Christian theology, specifically through the lens of Marsilio Ficino's intellectual circle.
RAPHAEL VRBIN. PINXIT ROMAE IN VATICAN. PAVLVS ATHENIS PER EPICVREOS ET STOICOS QVOSDAM PHILOSOPHOS ADDVCTVS IN MARTIVM VICVM STANS IN MEDIO EIVS SVMTA OCCASIONE EX INSCRIPTA A SE ARA DOCET VNVM ILLVM VERVM QVEM IGNOTVM DEVM APPELLAVERVNT IDOLATRIAM SVADET ABICERE EVNTIAM EDOCET... Per Ill.ri et Exc.mo D. Io. Baptistae Fagnae artium et Medicinae professori Incomparabili Philippus Thomassinus... 1617
Translation
Raphael of Urbino painted this in Rome, in the Vatican. Paul at Athens, led by certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, standing in the middle of Mars Hill, taking occasion from an altar inscribed by them 'To the Unknown God,' teaches them of that one true God whom they called unknown, persuading them to cast away idolatry and teaching them of the [resurrection]... To the most illustrious and excellent Lord Giovanni Battista Fagna, incomparable professor of arts and medicine, his friend Philippe Thomassin [dedicates this], 1617.
Plato, Timaeus
The central figure of Plato is depicted holding this cosmological treatise, which was foundational to Renaissance Neoplatonism.
Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle is depicted holding his work on Ethics, representing the active life and moral philosophy.
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino's translation and commentary on Plato and the Hermetica provided the intellectual framework for the figures depicted in this assembly.
Object
Fresco
allegory
Linked Data
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