School of Athens - Framed Canvas

2026-04-20T13:54:56+02:00

52 ancient Greek philosophers. One room. Probably zero consensus.

Raphael painted this between 1509 and 1511 for Pope Julius II's private library in the Vatican. At the centre: Plato pointing up toward eternal truth, Aristotle gesturing down toward the physical world. Around them, 50-odd thinkers, including Socrates, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Diogenes lounging unbothered on the stairs. Plato's face is reportedly modelled after Leonardo da Vinci. Raphael snuck himself in on the far right.

It is the High Renaissance distilled into a single fresco. The greatest gathering of minds ever painted.