The painting is an academic building with rounded arches, intricate detailing, statues, and Greek and Roman "students." The Roman arches of the University seem to symbolize all the wisdom bounded together under one roof. The painting is one-point perspective with the two philosophers, one pointing to the sky and the other to the earth, as the vanishing point. They represent Plato and Aristotle respectively. Some say that Plato is modelled after Da Vinci from by his look of white hair and beard. Fittingly, Plato, who is concerned with the other world and the self-existing good, holds Timeus. Meanwhile Aristotle, who philosophizes on practical nature and the work and life unique to humans, hold Ethics. Pythagoras is shown along with Diogenes lying on the stairs with a dish. Heraclites, modelled after Michelangelo, leans on the marble, writing. Euclid teaches geometry, Zoroaster holds the heavenly sphere and Ptolemy holds the earthly sphere. Other philosophers include Zeno, Averiros, and Diogenes. The painting is balanced split down the middle between Plato and Aristotle. The balance is synonymous with the balance between earthly and heavenly ideas. .
The Renaissance is essentially what it means- the rebirth; A rebirth of the classical Greco-Roman past. Both creations express a new culture emerging from a desolate stage. They both are staged after classic inventors" works. The humanistic spirit of the Renaissance is a refocus on man on earth while maintaining a sense of heavenly belief. Da Vinci is able to show this through the polarity of the circle and square. Circle is a symbol of the soul while the square signifies how humans connect to the physical world. This is seen through the four seasons, four directions, and four elements. So in that way the Vitruvian man depicts the dual nature of man which is in essence an underlying theme of the Renaissance. Raphael expresses this dual nature through Aristotle and Plato.
