Scuola di Atene

Painted in fresco by Raffaello Sanzio (Raphael) between 1509 and 1511, "The School of Athens" is located in the Vatican Museums and is one of the absolute masterpieces of Renaissance painting, along with the equally famous Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's Last Judgment.

The scene represents the central decorative focus of the Stanza della Segnatura, within the Apostolic Palaces, so named because it housed the Tribunal of the "Signatura Gratiae et Iustitiae."

Within a grand portico of classical inspiration, Raphael brings together all the major philosophers of antiquity: in the center, Plato, with the "Timaeus" under his arm, points his finger upwards, addressing a younger Aristotle who seems to contradict him while proudly holding his "Ethics."

In the bottom left corner, Pythagoras is seen sitting with a large book and the tablet of musical harmonies, while Euclid appears in the opposite corner, bending down and pointing a compass on a tablet with geometric drawings.

Diogenes, on the other hand, is lounging on the steps, in placid disregard of conventions. Next to him is the bowl which, according to tradition, he threw away to free himself from all the trappings of civilization and return to a more essential and primitive life.

Finally, leaning on a marble block in the foreground, we find the pensive Heraclitus, intent on writing on some sheets. Raphael imagined him with the features of Michelangelo, whom he greatly admired and personally knew during those years while Michelangelo was engaged in painting the nearby Sistine Chapel.