In 'The School of Athens', painted by Raphael, he mirrors society by including important elements of the Renaissance era. The Renaissance was all about the 'rebirth' of lost knowledge. Instead of just listening to the Church's ideas, people started to question, observe, and experiment for themselves. Through their humanist ideas, many discoveries were made which helped progress human kind. In this painting two important elements are shown, which helps mirror what the Renaissance was like at that time. The first one is the Interest in writing and Literature. On the left side of the painting people such as Pythagoras of Samos and Heraclitus are writing and reading. This shows that through this time people started to want to write down their ideas, so that others could learn from it. Ideas could be spread all over Europe due to writing in books, and when the printing press was invented, ideas could spread even faster. On the right hand side of the painting you can see two people holding up celestial globes. Beneath them, you can also see a man with a compass, marking something out. These two things mirror
society at the time because people were starting to get interested in science. The globe shows that people were observing the sky and space, and wanted to find out what was up there. Inventions like the telescope greatly helped these scientists in their finds, which helped create a better understanding of what the universes looks like. The compass also shows peoples knowledge in maths and science, and how they want to find out how things work, or why they are like that. Raphael wanted to mirror society while painting 'The School of Athens', so that people then and now, can fully appreciate what the Renaissance was all about.
If I was apart of the painting 'The School of Athens' I would be the statue Apollo. Apollo was known as the sun god and was have meant to be talented in many things such as music, poetry, the fine arts and healing. He was the son of Zeus and was the twin of Artemis. In the painting, he is on Plato's side ; the side which believes in the spiritual world. I feel that I am like Apollo because I also believe that there is something else, other then this world. Even though Apollo was meant to have been cruel and arrogant, he was also was meant to have loved to entertain with his lyre, and he enjoyed teaching mortals how to play it. I love to entertain also and I find joy in doing it. I also enjoy teaching my friends how to do something. One of his motto's was "Know yourself". I strongly believe in this statement because I feel that no matter what other people say to you, you still have to be true to yourself and know what you are able to do within yourself. Apollo was meant to also be an overachiever at times, because at 4 days old, he killed that snake which bothered his mother during giving birth. He was also a favorite god on Mount Olympus. Not that I always like this, but I am also an overachiever. I have to do well, and I always have so much on. Apollo had the ability to heal, and when someone is sad or hurt, I also feel that I can cheer them up, and help them keep going. On the con tray, he also had the ability to bring ill-health. Even though I can't do this, when I am angry, I can get extremely angry, and sometimes I will say/do things I wish I hadn't.
