Month: November 2025

The Final, Yet Not Least, Burial Chamber of Seti I

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It has been a while since I last published a post about Egypt, and now, perhaps in the spirit of the Egyptian sense of rebirth, I have decided to give it a try.

Tomb KV17 in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings is the resting place of Pharaoh Seti I from the 19th Dynasty. It is also known as “Belzoni’s tomb,” “the Tomb of Apis,” and “the Tomb of Psammis, son of Necho.” As one of the most elaborately decorated tombs in the valley, it is now almost always closed to the public due to damage. The longest tomb in the valley, measuring 137.19 metres (450.10 feet), features well-preserved reliefs in all but two of its eleven chambers and side rooms.

Here is an excellent recount of this discovery by the esteemed Marie Grillot. I believe you will find it quite engaging.

Sources: Madain Project & Ancient Egypt Magazine

The Discovery of Seti I’s Alabaster Sarcophagus by Belzoni

via égyptophile

View of part of the collection of antiquities in Sir John Soane’s Museum from the head of the sarcophagus of Seti I
carved and incised calcite (Egyptian alabaster), with traces of ‘Egyptian blue’ filling – New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty – circa 1279 BC
discovered in October 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17) by Giovanni Battista Belzoni on behalf of Consul Henry Salt
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London – inventory no.: M470 (acquired in May 1824)
watercolour by Joseph Michael Gandy, dated September 9, 1825

On October 18, 1817, Giovanni Battista Belzoni discovered, in the Valley of the Kings, an immense tomb with walls covered in magnificent scenes. He was captivated by what lay before him… “I can call the day of this discovery one of the most fortunate of my life,” he recalled in “Travels in Egypt and Nubia.” “I judged, by the paintings on the ceiling and by the hieroglyphs in bas-relief that could be distinguished through the rubble, that we had gained access to a magnificent tomb.”

He could not have known then that this was the “first tomb to be decorated with a complete program of religious texts” (“Theban Mapping Project”), nor could he have presumed to whom it belonged…

Plan and section of the tomb of Seti I, based on plates illustrating the research and operations of G. Belzoni in Egypt and Nubia
© The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

In reference to the “carcass of a bull embalmed with asphalt” found there, it was called the “Tomb of the Apis” or, at times, the “Belzoni Tomb.” Then, due to a misinterpretation by Thomas Young, it was attributed to “Nichao and his son Psammis”; for Joseph Bonomi, it was the “Tomb of Oimeneptah I.” It was thanks to the deciphering of the hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion in 1822 that it could finally be identified as the tomb of Seti I. Originally from the Delta, the true founder of the 19th Dynasty, this military man, astute politician, and great builder reigned over the Two Lands for eleven years (1294 to 1279 BC). Very early on, he associated his son with the throne, who succeeded him as Ramses II.

Statue of Seti I – calcite (Egyptian alabaster) – 19th Dynasty
Discovered in March 1904 in the Karnak Cachette by Georges Legrain for the Antiquities Service directed by Gaston Maspero
Previously in the Cairo Museum – JE 36692 – CG 42139 – On display since 2007 at the Luxor Museum (Gallery J)

The hypogeum (which much later would be referenced as KV 17) descends 137 m into the Theban mountain through 7 corridors and has 10 rooms! Belzoni goes from wonder to wonder, and his admiration reaches its peak when he arrives in the sarcophagus room. “The paintings were all executed with such perfection that I felt compelled to call this room the Hall of Beauties… But what this room offered, to our eyes, was most important: a sarcophagus placed in the centre, which has no equal in the world. This magnificent tomb, measuring nine feet five inches long by three feet seven inches wide, is made of the finest oriental alabaster: being only two inches thick, it becomes transparent when a light is placed behind one of the walls; inside and out, it is covered with sculptures: these are hundreds of small figures, no more than two inches high, which represent—it seemed to me—the entire funeral procession of the deceased placed in the sarcophagus, as well as emblems, etc. Unfortunately, the lid was missing: it had been removed and broken, and we found some fragments of it during the excavations in front of the first entrance.”

View of the left side of the sarcophagus of Seti I, with the hypothetical location of the lid fragments
illustration by Joseph Michael Gandy dated 18 November 1825 – © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Belzoni was accustomed to perilous “manoeuvres”: it is worth recalling that, two years earlier, he had orchestrated the removal of the “Young Memnon,” which was taken from the Ramesseum and sent to the British Museum… But extricating the fragile sarcophagus from the tomb seemed an even more difficult task. He undertook it—after carefully assessing the risks—and apparently without neglecting to have his name engraved on the rim of the fragile coffin beforehand. “It was a very delicate operation because the walls of this tomb (sic) were so thin that the slightest shock could break them. However, it was removed from the underground chamber without incident and, as soon as it was outside, placed in a strong crate. The valley through which it had to be transported to reach the Nile offered more than two miles of uneven terrain, and one mile of flat ground, covered with sand and pebbles. We transported it by means of rollers, and we fortunately managed to load it,” recounts Jean-Jacques Fiechter in “The Harvest of the Gods” (quoting “epistolario”, letter no. 122).

Sarcophagus basin of Seti I – carved and incised calcite (Egyptian alabaster), with traces of ‘Egyptian blue’ filling.
New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty – circa 1279 BC – discovered in October 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17)
by Giovanni Battista Belzoni on behalf of Consul Henry Salt
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London – inventory number: M470 (acquired in May 1824) © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Upon his arrival in Egypt in June 1815, Belzoni, the “Titan of Padua,” had cultivated a close relationship with the French consul, Bernardino Drovetti, but ultimately entered the service of the British consul, Henry Salt, the following summer. In their quest for antiquities—the firmans they possessed granting them complete freedom in their excavations—the two “consul-collectors” were fierce rivals, and the term “War of the Consuls” is sometimes used. Henry Salt benefited from a substantial inheritance left to him by his father. This financial security allowed him to indulge his passion for ancient Egypt by building his own collection. Furthermore, he had an “official mission” to enrich the Egyptian department of the British Museum. Belzoni would become one of his most effective agents, not only in the field but also when it came to negotiating the sale of artefacts, even as far as London!

Henry Salt (Lichfield, UK – 14-6-1780 – Alexandria, Egypt – 30-10-1827)
Diplomat, British Consul in Egypt from 1816 to 1835, collector of antiquities

In 1821, after travelling down the Nile and reaching Alexandria, the alabaster sarcophagus was loaded onto the frigate HMS Diana, which sailed for Great Britain. Stored at the British Museum, it was offered to them along with the “first Salt collection.” Negotiations with the London museum, which had just acquired Lord Elgin’s Parthenon Marbles for £35,000, proved difficult. While Salt had hoped to get £8,000 from his collection, after lengthy and bitter discussions, he had to sell it to them for… £2,000! As for the sarcophagus, which he offered them for 2,000 pounds, Brian M. Fagan recalls in “The Rape of the Nile: Tomb Robbers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in Egypt”: “The administrators categorically rejected the offer of the sarcophagus, due to both legal difficulties and the excessively high price, despite protests from Salt and Belzoni that they had received higher offers from Drovetti and other buyers. Ultimately, the sarcophagus was sold for 2,000 pounds to John Soane, a wealthy London architect and art collector.”

Le sarcophage de Séthy Ier au Sir John Soane’s Museum, London © The Trustees of Sir John Soane’s Museum

This “eclectic” collector had been completely fascinated by Belzoni’s adventures, as well as by the exhibition “The Egyptian Tomb” (on the tomb of Seti I) that the latter organised, with his wife Sarah, at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, and which he had visited on June 8, 1821… He would have to wait until May 12, 1824, to be able to acquire the sarcophagus, the purchase of which had been stubbornly refused by the British Museum…

In “Sir John Soane’s Greatest Treasure, The Sarcophagus of Seti I”, John H. Taylor recounts the installation of the sarcophagus in Soane’s house at Lincoln’s Inn Field on May 12, 1824: “The door being too narrow to allow it to pass through, a wide opening had to be made at the rear of the house, and ropes were used to lower it to the basement, beneath the Soane Dome, into a space named ‘the sepulchral chamber’ in his honor. It made a perfect centrepiece for the ‘crypt’ of Soane’s museum, perfectly reflecting his self-proclaimed ‘melancholy and sullen’ personality.”

Sarcophagus basin of Seti I – carved and incised calcite (Egyptian alabaster), with traces of ‘Egyptian blue’ filling.
New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty – circa 1279 BC – discovered in October 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17)
by Giovanni Battista Belzoni on behalf of Consul Henry Salt
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London – inventory number: M470 (acquired in May 1824) – internet photo

A curatorial note from the Sir John Soane Museum, where it is displayed under inventory number M470, states: “This sarcophagus was acquired with, according to early records, 18 pieces of the lid (see X58 and X73; one of the pieces is actually part of a canopic jar and is now catalogued as museum number X74). The museum also has a cast of another piece of the lid displayed in 1961 (X164)… The sarcophagus consists of two monolithic alabaster blocks. It is inscribed over its entire surface with religious scenes and figures, which were then filled with a substance called ‘Egyptian blue’.” Although most of the blue filling has disappeared, traces remain here and there. The effect, when complete, must have been stunning… The Museum further explains that: “The Victorian display case that now protects the sarcophagus was installed in 1866. Previously, the coffin was displayed without a case, as Soane wished, simply mounted on four fluted columns. The display case, fitted with casters, can be disassembled into two parts. It was refurbished in 2007, and the thick Victorian glass, with its strong greenish tint, was removed for safety reasons and replaced with clear safety glass. This improved the sarcophagus’s visibility. The display case is now a museum piece in its own right. It has brilliantly protected this delicate sarcophagus—whose stone scratches easily and which could also be stained by water if the skylight above leaked—for over 150 years.” A brass frame now protects it…

Sarcophagus basin of Seti I – carved and incised calcite (Egyptian alabaster), with traces of ‘Egyptian blue’ filling.
New Kingdom – 19th Dynasty – circa 1279 BC – discovered in October 1817 in the tomb of Seti I (KV 17)
by Giovanni Battista Belzoni on behalf of Consul Henry Salt
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London – inventory number: M470 (acquired in May 1824) – internet photo

This magnificent and imposing mummy-like coffin, whose lid, broken in antiquity, must have borne the image of the pharaoh, is 284.5 cm long, 111.8 cm wide at the shoulders, 68.6 cm high, and its thickness varies from 2.5 to 10.2 cm. It is illustrated with funerary texts and vignettes taken from the “Book of Gates,” which is divided into twelve sections, corresponding to the twelve hours of the night…

To understand the admiration aroused by such an artifact, John H. Taylor quotes an excerpt from a newspaper article in the “Morning Post” of April 22, 1824: “We believe that there is no country in Europe which would not be proud to possess such a rarity and that the Emperor of Russia, in particular, would rejoice to obtain it, if it were possible to buy it from the liberal and patriotic individual who is its present owner”…

Giovanni Battista Belzoni (Padua, 5-11-1778 – Timbuktu, 3-12-1823)
portrait published by his wife, Sarah, in 1824

As for Belzoni, who expressed his feelings about this exceptional piece thus: “Europe has never received from Egypt an ancient artefact of such magnificence,” he would be the big financial loser in the transactions… Indeed, as Brian M. Fagan reminds us, Henry Salt had promised him “half the price the sarcophagus would fetch above the paltry sum of two thousand pounds”… Not a single pound was ever paid to him…

Marie Grillot

Sources:
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, Sarcophagus of Pharaoh Seti (or Sety) I, resting on four fluted stone columns – c.1279 BC – XIXth Dynasty – Museum number: M470
http://collections.soane.org/object-m470
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, Case covering the sarcophagus of Seti I – 1866 – Museum number: M470.A
https://collections.soane.org/object-m470-a
Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, Cast of a fragment of the lid of the sarcophagus of Seti I – Museum number: X164
https://collections.soane.org/object-x164
Sir John Soane’s Museum London, Fragment of the lid of the sarcophagus of Seti I – Museum number: X73.A.i (et suivants…)
https://collections.soane.org/object-x73-a-i
Brian M. Fagan, The Rape of the Nile: Tomb Robbers, Tourists, and Archaeologists in Egypt, Book Club Associates, 1975
https://books.google.fr/books?id=CI84DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT113&lpg=PT113&dq=exhibition%20Belzoni%20Seti%20Saint%20Petersburg&source=bl&ots=cpZJr4hXvf&sig=COEiL_SQlWBptDjwcsh4Hy9VOAc&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiBuPvggZfZAhWFzaQKHdkuDgEQ6AEIUzAH#v=onepage&q=exhibition%20Belzoni%20Seti%20Saint%20Petersburg&f=false
Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Voyage en Égypte et en Nubie, Pygmalion, 1979
Jean-Jacques Fiechter, La moisson des Dieux, Julliard, 1994
Brian M. Fagan, L’aventure archéologique en Égypte : Grandes découvertes, pionniers célèbres, chasseurs de trésors et premiers voyageurs, Pygmalion, 1997
Nicholas Reeves, Les grandes découvertes de l’Égypte ancienne, Éditions du Rocher, 2001
Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings, American University in Cairo Press, 2002
Jean Vercoutter, À la recherche de l’Égypte oubliée, Découvertes Gallimard, 2007
https://books.google.fr/books?id=2IJnkBDoBBwC&pg=PA80&lpg=PA80&dq=exposition+egypte+boulevard+des+italiens+1822+paris&source=bl&ots=Sv3a4SiBkH&sig=kSl3FSh1RFMI2DB2URr9y9raz1Y&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9juyw15TZAhULL8AKHVFcC7wQ6AEIaTAD#v=onepage&q=exposition%20egypte%20boulevard%20des%20italiens%201822%20paris&f=false
John H. Taylor, Sir John Soane’s Greatest Treasure, The Sarcophagus of Seti I, Pimpernel Press Ltd, 2017
Pierre Tallet, Frédéric Payraudeau, Chloé Ragazzolli, Claire Somaglino, L’Égypte pharaonique, histoire, société, culture, Armand Colin, 2019
Theban Mapping Project, KV 17, Sety I
https://thebanmappingproject.com/tombs/kv-17-sety-i

Searching for the Eternal Girl/Boy P. 3 Puella Aeterna/Puer Aeternus and Corne/Senex

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I’ll borrow life and not grow old;
And nightingales and trees
Shall keep me, though the veins be cold,
As young as Sophocles.
And when I may no longer live,
They’ll say, who knows the truth,
He gave whate’er he had to give
To Freedom and to Youth.
~William Corey, Master at Eton c. 1850-1870

Success achieved, he never stays
For only by never staying does he not depart.
~Dao Tzu, Dao De Jing.
From Now or Neverland, p. 156

In this third part, let’s revisit the inspiring book, Now or Neverland, which motivated me to write these articles.

Here’s a brief essay on Now or Neverland by Ann Yeoman:

Ann Yeoman’s book “Now or Neverland: Peter Pan and the Myth of Eternal Youth” analyses the enduring charm of J.M. Barrie’s story, emphasising its psychological and mythological elements. She interprets Neverland as a metaphor for humanity’s longing to escape time and mortality. Yeoman considers Peter Pan an archetype embodying wonder and the peril of avoiding growth.
She explains that Neverland represents the myth of eternal youth—a place where responsibilities cease. This dream enables Peter to evade adult challenges but also leads him to miss meaningful relationships and personal development. Her study suggests Barrie’s tale celebrates youth but also warns against escapism.
In “Now or Neverland,” Yeoman encourages reflection on individual perceptions of time, change, and maturation, transforming a children’s story into a profound meditation on memory, imagination, and ageing.

Yesterday, I attended a birthday party for a dear family member, where my grandchildren were also present. I hadn’t seen them in a long time due to my illness and hospital stay. As always, I was the only adult the kids enjoyed playing with, because they knew the child in me well. It reminded me of what Yeoman mentioned in her book:

…Paradoxically, whereas lightness, freedom and space may be the necessary conditions for play, play itself is far from light, in that it has the capacity to ground one in the wholeness of one’s being. In a discussion of the importance of play in childhood, Anthony Stevens cites Johan Huizinga’s claim, in Homo Ludens, his work on the subject of play, that “in play there is something ‘at play’ which transcends the immediate needs of life.” This is because the archetypal activities of human life are filled with possibilities for play. Notes Stevens:

Hence, Schiller’s famous aphorism, “Man is only truly himself when he is at play.”
… Childhood is a period of immense vitality and inventiveness, when imagination is given free rein to complement the realities or compensate for the deficiencies of everyday existence…
It is one of the misfortunes of growing up that we readily lose touch with this rich land of childhood … Yet nothing is lost to the Self, and play, like the child who sponsors it, lives on as a propensity of the psyche to its dying day. (250On Jung, pp. 87f.)

What is of particular interest in our discussion of Barrie is Stevens’s emphasis that fantasy, as introverted play,

is the product of play between the archetypes of the collective unconscious and the living circumstances of the individual. . . . Fantasy is not a regressive means of escape from reality . . . but the modus operandi of psychological growth: it is the stuff of life, leading us on into the future. (251 Ibid., pp. 88f.)

Play and fantasy lead us into the future because they make us creators. They legitimise our re-formation and re-creation of the world, allowing us to remember and so re-deem the scattered fragments of ordinary life. They make us gods for an hour or a day, enabling an activity which affirms our sense of Self because it affords unlimited scope to our desire for realisation, fulfilment and creative power in a world of our own making that is secret and therefore safe. The task of the artist is then to establish a vital connection between the hidden world of possibility and the world of actuality.

However, according to Winnicott, the “place” of play and fantasy is precarious, “because it belongs to the interplay in the . . . mind of that which is subjective (near-hallucination) and that which is objectively perceived (actual or shared reality).” (Playing and Reality, p. 61)

…This place is the No-man’s land, an intermediary realm of the imagination that the artist must continually interpret and re-interpret. Here, one might encounter the god-child, buried deep in the personality. The challenge for the writer, like Barrie, who feels more at home in the imaginal realm, is to interpret such experiences within the real world. But in Peter Pan, Barrie’s two worlds remain as opposed at the end as at the beginning, with no space in the Edwardian world for the richness found in Neverland. Ultimately, Barrie cannot show that reality offers room for self-fulfilment, unlike other children’s classics such as Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows or Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh.

In Barrie, there’s an apparent devaluation of cosy domesticity and an iconoclastic streak visible in his work, especially in Peter Pan and other heroes resembling Peter’s mysterious presence. We find in Peter Pan the masculine energy of the trickster, a mythic figure known as a lawbreaker who embodies instinctual desires. (Barbara Greenfield, “The Archetypal Masculine,” in Andrew Samuels, ed., The Father, p. 192.)

The trickster often marks an early stage in the development of the heroic ego, reflecting nature’s transformative power while resisting change. Barrie’s hero also resists transformation, with little evidence of active sexuality or development beyond a boy-trickster to a mature hero or Wise Old Man. Instead, Peter Pan’s iconoclasm risks becoming an idol of boyish rebellion for its own sake.

(Ibid., p. 191. Greenfield argues that “The boy, Don Juan, and the trickster show us the ego in its early stages of development, while the hero, the father and the wise old man represent later stages of development. As a whole, the animus, or male archetype, unifies these disparate figures because it exists as those principles which underlie them all.” She suggests that the most powerful mythological forms of the masculine archetype are those of the father and the trickster, claiming the trickster as “an early incarnation of the father” rather than an archetype separate from that of the father, as it is treated by Jung. Her view supports our earlier discussion of the inherent similarities of Peter Pan and Hook and is useful when individual development and personal pathology are the issue. However, what we may describe as the “creative iconoclasm” of the Self in its impulse to further consciousness favours Jung’s treatment of the trickster and his recognition of its essential and constant role in the archetypal drama of the psyche. Perhaps this presents a case for “both/and” rather than “either/or” terminology; and for a concept of co-existing levels of activity rather than a more linear development from one stage to the next, with only faint traces of earlier characteristics evident in the later stages.)

Remember to cherish the child within you; thank you! 🙏

Everything is Relative; Even Happiness!

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Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.
~Albert Einstein

I was always sceptical about the concepts of time and space. As I explored Einstein’s theory of relativity, I realised that it encompasses not just time and space, but everything else as well, including happiness.

Indeed, it pertains to an individual’s life circumstances or, more precisely, it is linked to them. For example, someone living a stress-free and trouble-free life may experience a lack of happiness, but when faced with tough times, they may find happiness more readily.

My life has been filled with challenges, but this year has been especially tough. As you know, I had issues with my lower abdomen and underwent three surgeries to fix it, or so I thought. However, a problem arose when I went to the toilet, which caused concern, and I visited my doctor. After the examination, he stated that an apparent mistake had occurred during the last operation, a part had been injured, and I would require another procedure. I won’t go into the details, but after some anxious days, I’ve managed to secure a scheduled appointment for next Wednesday, as the procedure needs to be done soon to prevent kidney issues.

I gathered some insights and words from my teacher, Carl Jung, who held that the psyche and cosmos are fundamentally timeless. Working with Einstein and Pauli, he examined a concept of timelessness that goes beyond linear clock time. Jung proposed that accurate understanding involves transcending causality because time in the psyche and reality is relative. Although our conscious mind perceives time linearly, embracing a sense of timelessness can enhance learning. His goal was to unify physical and psychic realities and how they interact.

He believed in a psychological “relativity of time,” where perception is subjective and affected by inner states. He connected this to synchronicity, implying that the psyche and material world are not always ruled by linear cause-and-effect but can relate in other ways. Jung pointed out that, similar to the space-time continuum in modern physics, the unconscious also exhibits “indistinctness” or psychic relativity, which blurs the boundaries between time and space.

For Jung: “[Synchronicity] cannot be a question of cause and effect, but of a falling together in time, a kind of simultaneity. Because of this quality of simultaneity, I have chosen the term ‘synchronicity’ to designate a hypothetical factor equal in rank to causality as a principle of explanation.”
Jung, C. G. (1952). The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche; Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, in CW, Vol. 8.

Now, what about happiness? I tell you this: when I go to the toilet and manage to pee, I feel the entire joy of life again and find happiness!

Humour plays a vital role, and hope remained until the very end. In my seventy years, I have enjoyed good health and no surgeries, but this year I face my fourth operation. Here’s to a brighter year ahead. Wishing you all health and prosperity.

The frames must be put in place; you just need to know where to cut and sew.

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“Crazy Woman” Lara Lisa Bella” Designed by Marko Köppe

This isn’t just about revenge; I am honoured to share a magnificent work by an exceptional artist: Experience Film

He stands out as one of the most talented thinkers and creators!

Voulez-VOUS!

Renaissance: the Pinnacle of Humanity’s Artistic and Philosophical Achievement!

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Raphael’s self-portrait | Uffizi Galleries
Selbstbildnis des Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci, um 1512
Biblioteca Reale, Turin
Portrait by Daniele da Volterra, c. 1545

Raffaello Sanzio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo are legendary figures of the Renaissance, each contributing uniquely to the era’s art and thought. Raffaello is celebrated for his balanced compositions and perspective, especially in The School of Athens, embodying ideals of knowledge and beauty. Leonardo da Vinci, a true polymath, excelled in painting, science, and anatomy, with works such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper showcasing his innovative methods and deep understanding of human emotion. Michelangelo, renowned for his sculptures and paintings, created masterpieces such as the Statue of David and the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which reflect his keen insight into human anatomy and emotion. These artists collectively represented the Renaissance spirit, merging art, science, and philosophy, and their enduring legacies continue to inspire us.

But what is the most interestingly depicted in art history during the Renaissance? Two masterworks tell their own story: Raffaello’s ‘School of Athens’ and Michelangelo’s ‘Sistine Chapel ceiling.’

Indeed, Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper should not be overlooked, as it is a Renaissance masterpiece that captures the moment after Jesus reveals that one of his apostles will betray him. Raffaello’s The School of Athens also employs one-point perspective, similar to da Vinci’s method: the composition is centred on a single vanishing point with all lines converging on Jesus, highlighting him as the focal point. However, it’s a different story!

I previously covered that topic, mainly from a philosophical angle rather than focusing on developing the art self. Now, let’s explore this masterpiece creatively and artistically.

Raffaello’s masterpiece, The School of Athens, exemplifies the Renaissance by highlighting its core principles of knowledge, philosophy, and beauty. This famous fresco depicts a gathering of history’s greatest thinkers, including Plato and Aristotle, each representing distinct philosophical perspectives. Plato, resembling Leonardo da Vinci, represents idealism and the importance of ideas, while Aristotle stands for empirical observation. Figures like Socrates, Ptolemy, and Euclid enrich the discussion. Raffaello’s masterful use of perspective draws viewers into a vibrant intellectual hub of the Renaissance. The influence of Michelangelo is evident, demonstrating outstanding artistic talent. The School of Athens celebrates individual genius and the collaborative spirit of the Renaissance, a time when art, science, and humanism thrived.

Raffaello’s ‘School of Athens’ and Michelangelo’s ‘Sistine Chapel ceiling’ are iconic Renaissance masterpieces. ‘School of Athens’ portrays philosophers amidst impressive architecture, symbolising art, philosophy, and science.

Michelangelo’s ceiling is renowned for dramatic scenes like ‘Creation of Adam’, showcasing his skill and religious themes.

Both works are culturally and historically significant, reflecting Renaissance intellectual and artistic progress.

Here’s a video titled “How to read ‘The School of Athens’ – a triumph of Renaissance art” from Aeon, a recommended site.
In Great Art Explained, UK curator and video essayist James Payne explores Raphael’s The School of Athens (1509-11), a Renaissance icon. He highlights its location in the Pope’s private Vatican library, symbolising philosophy alongside theology, poetry, and law. Payne describes how Raphael’s composition merges Classical and Christian ideas, showing their interconnectedness in the quest for truth.

I hope you enjoy it and wish everyone a wonderful weekend. 🤗💖