Focus on this artwork and explore the abstract.
The School of Athens (Italian: Scuola di Atene) is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. The fresco was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It depicts a congregation of philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists from Ancient Greece, including Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Heraclitus and Zarathustra the Iranian prophet. The Italian artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo are also featured in the painting, shown as Plato and Heraclitus respectively.
The painting notably features accurate perspective projection, a defining characteristic of the Renaissance era. Raphael learned perspective from Leonardo, whose role as Plato is central in the painting. The themes of the painting, such as the rebirth of Ancient Greek philosophy and culture in Europe (along with Raphael's work) were inspired by Leonardo's individual pursuits in theatre, engineering, optics, geometry, physiology, anatomy, history, architecture and art.The School of Athens is regarded as one of Raphael's best known works, and has been described as "Raphael's masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the Renaissance".
Raphael Apostolic Palace Aristotle optics Leonardo da Vinci Ancient Greece fresco perspective projection Stanze di Raffaello physiology geometry Italian Renaissance anatomy Plato Ancient Greek philosophy Vatican engineering philosophy Michelangelo Archimedes Zarathustra Heraclitus Pythagoras