The School of Athens

For the school of philosophy of classical Athens, see Platonic Academy. For the U.S. preparatory school, see Athenian School.

The School of Athens
ArtistRaphael
Year1509–1511
TypeFresco
Dimensions500 cm × 770 cm (200 in × 300 in)
LocationApostolic Palace, Vatican Museums, Vatican City

The School of Athens (Italian: Scuola di Atene) is a fresco by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1511 as part of a commission by Pope Julius II to decorate the rooms now called the Stanze di Raffaello in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.

The fresco depicts a congregation of ancient philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists, with Plato and Aristotle featured in the center. The identities of most figures are ambiguous or discernable only through subtle details or allusions;[1] among those commonly identified are Socrates, Pythagoras, Archimedes, Heraclitus, Averroes, and Zarathustra. Additionally, Italian artists Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo are believed to be portrayed through Plato and Heraclitus, respectively.[2][3] Raphael included a self-portrait beside Ptolemy. Raphael is the only character who is looking directly at the viewer in the artwork.

The painting is notable for its use of accurate perspective projection, a defining characteristic of Renaissance art, which Raphael learned from Leonardo; likewise, the themes of the painting, such as the rebirth of Ancient Greek philosophy and culture in Europe were inspired by Leonardo's individual pursuits in theatre, engineering, optics, geometry, physiology, anatomy, history, architecture and art.[4]

The School of Athens is regarded as one of Raphael's best-known works and has been described as his "masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the Renaissance".[5]

  1. ^ "The School of Athens: A detail hidden in a masterpiece". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  2. ^ Larsen, Frode (29 July 2021). "Leonardo da Vinci is in Raphael's School of Athens". Journal of Humanistic Mathematics. 11 (2): 196–243. doi:10.5642/jhummath.202102.09. ISSN 2159-8118.
  3. ^ "The School of Athens: A detail hidden in a masterpiece". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  4. ^ Georg Rainer Hofmann (1990). "Who invented ray tracing?". The Visual Computer. 6 (3): 120–124. doi:10.1007/BF01911003. S2CID 26348610..
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference JJ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).