The School of Athens

In 2001-2002 I enrolled in a year-long class called The Making of the Western Mind, taught by Bill Fredlund at UCSC Extension, Cupertino. Bill’s background is in art history, particularly the Renaissance, but he’s knowledgeable about many aspects of Western civilization and culture, including literature, all the arts, and political, economic and social history. My willingness to make the 170 mile round trip drive from Gonzales each Monday evening should be a solid indication of the caliber of the class.

The first ten  of 30 weeks of MTWM  included the Hebrews, Greece, Rome and  Christianity. Our reading list was extensive, but moderate- quite doable if I had had more time on my hands. The works I did finish deserved a leisurely re-read, and partially completed works needed to be finished- along with others from a few other UC Extension Humanities classes I took around that time.

Retirement in 2004 presented me with perfect opportunity to get to them, plus other books that had been on my shelves for 50+ years- As I was compiling my reading lists, I came across a print of Raphael’s School of Athens, a fresco in the Stella della Segnatura, the Vatican… right down the hall from the Sistine Chapel. S. o’ A. was completed at about the same time Michaelangelo finished his ceiling, around 1512. Bill used the Athens image as the logo/ poster for our class.

It occurred to me that if I could identify each of the 52 people in the painting- Aristotle and Plato are smack in the middle- and have some idea of the contributions of each to western thought, literature and art- I’d be well on my way to having a decent education, at least up through AD 1510.

Roughly half the images in the fresco are Greek philosophers, scientists and mathematicians -all philosophers in the Greek view, I suppose. The number can’t be certain because Raphael never specifically identified each- nor did he call the work School of Athens.

So, Bill did me at least two major favors- he gave me an appreciation of the Renaissance, especially in Italy, after I figured there wasn’t a whole lot going on for me outside of the Impressionists, Picasso and Matisse and Edward Hopper…

And, he pointed me to the room where I’ll be standing two weeks from last night. Yep, I have a reservation to visit the  Musei Vaticani September 25, at 1900 hrs. To see Raphael’s work as up close as they let me stand. For as long as I can…

That will be the second evening I’m in Rome. Another ten days there, a little over a week in Florence, a short visit to Bologna, plus Pinocchio’s home town near Lucca, a pilgrimage to the Ferrari factory, a few days in Cinque Terre- five villages on the coast south of Genoa-, and a week or so in Tuscany, before heading home from Rome on October 28th.

Department of Good Intentions says this may be a way for me to keep family and friends up to date on my adventures.

We shall see… Check back.

Tony