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Original filePlato and Aristotle stand at the center of the composition, framed by a series of receding barrel vaults. Plato points toward the heavens while holding his 'Timaeus,' and Aristotle gestures toward the earth while holding his 'Ethics.' Surrounding them are groups of scholars engaged in debate and demonstration, including Pythagoras with a musical tablet and Euclid using a compass.
This work is the definitive visual statement of Renaissance Neoplatonism and the 'Prisca Theologia'—the idea of a single, ancient theology that connects all great thinkers. It maps the intellectual genealogy that informed Western esotericism, reconciling the idealism of the Academy with the empiricism of the Lyceum.
Escuela de Atenas, obra de
Translation
School of Athens, work of
Plato's Timaeus
Plato is depicted holding this specific dialogue, which provided the cosmological foundation for Renaissance Neoplatonism.
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle holds this volume to represent his focus on earthly morality and the physical world.
Marsilio Ficino
The painting embodies Ficino's project of harmonizing ancient philosophy with Christian thought.
Object
Oil on panel
allegory
Linked Data
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