How to Read the Stanza della Segnatura
Raphael's most famous achievement in the Vatican is a temple of beauty, but one laden with eternal meaning...
In 1508, four years after The Wedding of the Virgin proved his talent had surpassed that of his master Perugino, Raphael Santi received the opportunity that would seal once and for all his earthly immortality.
A letter arrived in Florence from Donato Bramante, the architect extraordinaire and a fellow native of Urbino. Bramante reported that Pope Julius II was seeking to redecorate rooms in the Vatican, and that if Raphael came to Rome at once, he “would have a chance of showing his worth in them” (Vasari, Life of Raphael).
Not one to shy away from so high a calling or great an opportunity, Raphael at once ceased work on the Madonna del Baldacchino, and departed Tuscany for the Eternal City.
Bramante had personally recommended his compatriot to the Supreme Pontiff, and when Raphael arrived at the Vatican, Pope Julius welcomed him warmly. It was indeed quite the opportunity that Julius offered to Raphael — he would have him decorate nothing less than the Pope’s personal library in the Apostolic Palace.
To say that Raphael would “show his worth” in this assignment would be an understatement. He indeed had barely begun when Julius, amazed by the 25-year-old’s talent, ordered the removal of all previously executed paintings within the room, dismissing the other artists who had been working alongside Raphael so that he alone might have the glory of decorating the room in its entirety.
The resulting work, the Stanza della Segnatura, would satisfy not only the Pope, but much of mankind’s yearning for beauty — for there is scarcely a man in the West, if not the Earth, who has not seen at least a printed or digital image of part of the frescoes which adorn this chamber.
Yet the Stanza della Segnatura is no ‘idle’ beauty — it is a carefully designed celebration of the human spirit. Today, we tell the story in words that Raphael painted in brushtrokes. What follows is your guide to his crowning masterpiece, the Stanza della Segnatura…
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The Vault
The vault of the Stanza della Segnatura is, for understandable reasons, the most neglected of its painted surfaces. However, it is here that Raphael introduces most directly the meaning of both the entire room, and the individual frescoes which adorn the walls below.
In short, the Stanza della Segnatura seeks to reconcile the achievements of Man both before and since the coming of Christ, drawing upon the thought of both to explore the greatest aspirations of the human spirit. It is, as a result, the perfect incarnation of the Renaissance itself, which sought the rebirth of the classical world, and its redemption by Christianity.
It does this by considering these aspirations through the three principles of Truth, Goodness and Beauty — core tenets of Neoplatonic philosophy, a school of thought which flourished in the later Roman Empire and remained highly influential upon the Christian tradition.
One might then ask, how were three principles extended to four frescoes on the walls below? The answer is that while Goodness is represented by The Cardinal and Theological Virtues and the Law and Beauty by Parnassus, Truth is divided into both supernatural truth, represented by the Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament fresco, and rational truth, represented by the world famous School of Athens fresco.
The themes of these four frescoes are indeed introduced here on the ceiling by the four allegorical figures located within the medallions directly above each. Let us take a closer look at them now.
From left to right:
Supernatural Truth is represented by the personification of Theology, flanked by two putti who together bear the abbreviated inscription of DIVINARUM RERUM NOTITIA, meaning ‘Knowledge of Divine Things’.
Rational Truth is represented by the personification of Philosophy, flanked by two putti who together bear the inscription CAVSARVM COGNITIO, meaning ‘Know the Causes’.
Goodness is represented by the personification of Justice, flanked by two putti who together bear the partially obscured inscription of IUS SUUM UNICUIQUE TRIBUIT, meaning ‘To Give to Each His Own’, understood in the sense of ‘May all Get their Due’.
Beauty is represented by the personification of Poetry, flanked by two putti who together bear the abbreviated inscription of NUMINE AFFLATUR, meaning ‘Inspired by the Divine’.
Each theme is then joined to its neighbour by a story told in a panel between them in the corner of the vault, as follows:
From left to right:
Adam and Eve, depicted in the moment of Original Sin that will result in their expulsion from Eden, combines Justice and Theology.
Primum Mobile, depicting Urania, Muse of Astronomy, grasping the celestial sphere, combines Poetry and Philosophy. Furthermore, Raphael has upon the sphere depicted the sky as it was on the 31st October 1503, the date of the election of his patron Pope Julius II.
The Judgement of Solomon, depicting the King of Israel revealing which of the two women before him was truly the mother of the infant they argued over, by the ploy of ordering its execution, combines Philosophy and Justice.
Apollo and Marsyas, depicting the satyr Marsyas, who in his hubris challenged the god Apollo to a contest of music, only to be flayed alive when he lost, in a potent warning against the arrogance of denying divine authority, combines Theology and Poetry.
Merely by considering the ceiling, therefore, we are thoroughly primed for the centrepieces themselves — the wall frescoes.
The Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament
As the illustration of supernatural truth, The Disputation of the Most Holy Sacrament represents the role of faith in arriving at the truth.
Enthroned in glory is Christ, with the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Baptist at his sides, while God the Father stands above him, and the dove of the Holy Spirit blazes beneath him, alongside the Holy Scriptures of the Four Gospels borne aloft by cherubim. At their side, seated upon the cloudly plain is the Church Triumphant, that is, those who have passed away from the Earth and dwell now in the eternal joy of everlasting union with God. There we find the apostles and martyrs, from Saint Peter on the far left through to Saint Paul on the far right.
Below them is the Church Militant, that is the body of Christians alive on Earth who there stand in defiance of the forces of evil. We see the Saints depicted as if in council, deep in disputation over the Holy Eucharist, more specifically transubstantiation — the transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
Seated on thrones of marble before the altar are the Four Doctors of the Church: Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Jerome, Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine of Hippo. In a homage to the family of the reigning Supreme Pontiff, Raphael depicted Saint Augustine (seated on the right of the altar, eyes and hands cast up to Heaven) with the features of Julius II, while the standing, clean-shaven figure in golden vestments and wearing the Papal Tiara on the right is Sixtus IV, the Pope’s uncle and predecessor.
The School of Athens
The illustration of rational, as opposed to supernatural, truth, and the role of philosophy in arriving at the truth, The School of Athens is by far the most famous fresco of the entire cycle.
Unlike the Disputation of the Sacrament opposite, where the scene is bound by the infinite vault of the sky and of Heaven, here the philosophers of Antiquity are, despite its grandiosity, ‘constrained’ by earthly architecture, at the centre of which is played out the dispute which defines the entire composition.
Framed by the splendid arched doorway are the two greatest thinkers of the Classical world, the elder Plato on the left and his student Aristotle on the right. Plato — who Raphael has depicted with the features of the renowned polymath Leonardo da Vinci, still alive at the time of painting — is carrying in his left hand the text of his famed dialogue Timaeus, which considered the nature of this world and of humanity. Aristotle, meanwhile, is grasping his Nicomachean Ethics, which explored how Man might achieve Goodness through practical rather than merely theoretical means.
Plato gestures to the sky with his right hand, as if to illustrate that truth ultimately is to be found in the celestial, non-corporeal world. Aristotle however retorts by holding out his own hand, palm down, as if to insist that the discussion return to the tangible, material world, and that we trust our senses that truth is found here, not on the spiritual plain.
The School of Athens and the Disputation of the Sacrament, therefore, reveal to us the two paths that can together lead man to Truth — Reason and Faith.
Beyond the beauty of its composition and execution, The School of Athens is famed for the inspiration Raphael drew in its execution from the real world around him. Certain traces of this are more subtle than others…
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