The School of Athens
The artist
Raphael, a young Italian Renaissance painter admired for his balanced, harmonious pictures.
What you see
The great thinkers of ancient Greece gather in a grand hall, talking, reading, and sharing ideas.
The story
Painted around 1511 for rooms in the Vatican, it is seen as a perfect example of calm, balanced Renaissance design.
The style
Raphael used careful perspective so the arches seem to stretch far back, drawing your eye to the two figures in the center.
Look closer
In the middle stand the wise teachers Plato and Aristotle, one pointing up and the other toward the ground.
Where to see it
It covers a wall in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, in rooms that Raphael decorated for the pope.
Fun fact
Raphael slipped real artists into the crowd, and the thinker sitting alone on the steps is believed to be Michelangelo.