How did we miss this for 515 years?

The School of Athens is one of the most famous paintings in the world. Millions of people contemplate it every year at the Vatican, and for more than five hundred years, historians have studied every face in this scene. But there is a small object, almost at the center of the composition, that has gone practically unnoticed all this time. A simple inkwell, teetering on the corner of a marble block, about to fall. According to some historians, that tiny object could be the key to understanding the complete meaning of this masterpiece. And once you discover what it represents, you will never look at this fresco the same way again. In this video we explore the hidden identities Raphael painted into his figures, the philosopher whose words were lost forever, and the subversive message hidden in plain sight for 515 years. ► Shop "School of Athens" (1509-11) at - https://www.inspiraggio.com/products/school-of-athens-raphael-1510 ► Shop Art Prints & Canvas at - https://www.inspiraggio.com/collections/shop-all ► Shop Fine Art Phone Cases at - https://www.inspiraggio.com/collections/iphone-cases → Join our FREE newsletter: https://www.inspiraggio.com/pages/newsletter → Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inspiraggio → Contact: [email protected] 0:00 Introduction 0:44 School of Athens 2:30 The Problem 3:42 Fluid Identities 5:36 Heraclitus and Michelangelo 8:50 The Inkwell SOURCES Kelly Grovier, BBC Culture — "The School of Athens: A detail hidden in a masterpiece" https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200910-the-school-of-athens-a-detail-hidden-in-a-masterpiece Kelly Grovier — "A New Way of Seeing: The History of Art in 57 Works" (Thames & Hudson, 2018) Wikipedia — The School of Athens https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens Vatican Museums — Raphael Rooms, Stanza della Segnatura https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/stanze-di-raffaello/stanza-della-segnatura.html #arthistory #art Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.