Page 58 - Beholding Liberty!

BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Fenaille, État général des tapisseries de la manufacture des Gobelins depuis son origine jusqu’à nos jours 1600-1900, Hachette et Cie, Paris, 1902-1923,
vol. II, p. 202.
Hélène Gasnault «L’Ecole d’Athènes
de la tenture des Chambre du Vatican», in the exhibition catalogue Sul Filo
di Raffaello, impresa e fortuna nell’arte dell’arazzo, Gallerie nazionali delle Marche, Urbino, spring 2021 (at press).
Morgane Lucquet-Laforgue,
«Le rayonnement de Raphaël dans l’art de la tapisserie des Gobelins. A travers les collections du Mobilier national»,
in the exhibition catalogue Sul Filo
di Raffaello, impresa e fortuna nell’arte dell’arazzo, Gallerie nazionali delle Marche, Urbino, spring 2021 (at press).
tion depicts the intellectual and logical search for truth, one aspect of the humanistic culture of the period, which is strongly marked by the rediscov- ery of ancient texts, particularly Greek ones.
The philosophers and wise men of Hellenic An- tiquity appear to be absorbed in a discussion or confrontation, communicating their teaching, or sunk in thought and reflection. All gathered to- gether under the roof of an enormous structure in the central view that reflects the ancient model (and the innovations of Bramante regarding his plan for St. Peter’s basilica in Rome). In the centre, Plato discusses with Aristotle, and all diagonals converge.
Plato, as a bearded old man with features remi- niscent of Leonardo de Vinci, holds his own work, the Timaeus, and is turned toward the sky. Aris- totle, the younger, has the Ethics under his arm and is turning the palms of his right hand toward the ground. Their expressive gestures summarize perfectly the theories of the philosopher and his student: the former first gazes on things from high up in the world of ideas, and intelligence; the latter gazes at things from below, the world of the tan- gible, of science.
Many other personalities can be identified: on the first level, starting from the left, is Zenon with a child, then Epicurus reading; behind him, the young man in white is the Duke of Urbino Fran- cesco della Rovere, nephew of Pope Julius II and a contemporary of Raphael. Pythagoras is seated on the side, writing in a book and behind him is Averroes, and further back is possibly Parmenides. Seated facing front, in a thoughtful stance is Her- aclitus, to whom Raphael has given the features of Michelangelo. To the right, in the middle of a large group, is Euclid (behind whom we surmise is the face of Bramante) bending down in order to measure a shape with a compass; further back Zoroaster presents a celestial sphere and Ptole- my the sphere of the earth. On the second level, toward the left, Socrates is talking to a group of people, among who are Alcibiades and Xenophon. Toward the centre, lying on the stair is Diogenes. On the far right of the composition, is Raphael
himself, near his teacher the painter Perugino, gazing at the viewer.
The Rome of the humanist Renaissance originated from the Greece of the great ancient thinkers. Per- haps more from the France of the Great Century of Louis XIV, who sought above all to promote a magnificent decoration in a sublime technique, for France to be presented after the Revolution as a worthy inheritor of Graeco-Roman Antiquity.
The famous Italian work became French by being moved to a wall hanging in the Globelins factory. The prestige of the exquisite weaving technique, each of which had its own special feature (some people wove heads, others arms, and some chairs or architectural and decorative features), the long duration of the creation, quality and detail of the materials that were used (wool and silk and, for some weavings, gold and silver threads) contribut- ed to the great fame of these creations.
The present tapestry of the School of Athens dates from 1979 when it was hanging in the departure office of the National Assembly of France and moved to the de Lassay palace. This symbolic site marks the beginning of the official democra- cy surrounding the president of the Assembly, who begins from the chamber in which the tapestry is located, in order to approach the semi-circular National Assembly, accompanied by a group of the democratic Guard. In the semicircle, above the of- fice of the president, facing all members and all French people, hangs another woven image of the School of Athens, which belongs to the national collection of furniture.
For the first time in many years, our wall hanging leaves this distinguished place, in which the laws are examined and passed, and travels to Greece on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of its inde- pendence. No woven wall hanging from the Vatican Chambers has ever been lent and sent to Greece.
The presentation of this tapestry in Greece – the cra- dle of democracy – is an expression of the honour attributed by France to Greece.
Morgane Lucquet-Laforgue
Paris, Mobilier national
58 BEHOLDING LIBERTY!