Monday, April 11, 2011

Eyes Fixed on Heaven, Eyes Fixed on Earth

I did my undergraduate studies in the Program of Liberal Studies as the University of Notre Dame.  In the program's seminar format, we spent a lot of time discussing both Plato and Aristotle.  Raffaello Sanzio painted "The School of Athens" in 1509 that captured some essential qualities of the two philosophers.  (The painting is included below.)

While visiting the Cathedral in Santiago recently, I snapped this photo.  I just barely caught it, and not as I had hoped, as I clipped the boy to the right of the image.  As I saw both figures, Sanzio's image of Plato and Aristotle came to mind.  The boy, like Plato, looks up to heaven, while the woman, like Aristotle has her eyes fixed on earth.  Perhaps this image captures something of these two souls.

No comments:

Post a Comment