The School of Athens

Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael in 1508 to decorate four rooms in the Apostolic Palace. The Stanza della Segnatura — where the Pope's private library was housed — received the most celebrated cycle, with four large frescoes representing Philosophy (School of Athens), Theology, Poetry, and Law. Raphael was 25 years old when he began the commission and 27 when The School of Athens was complete.

Raphael depicted approximately 20 ancient philosophers, drawn from different centuries of ancient thought and arranged as if they inhabited the same place and time. He used the faces of his Renaissance contemporaries for many of the ancient figures: Plato bears the features of Leonardo da Vinci; the brooding Heraclitus (added later, seated on the steps) is modelled on Michelangelo. Raphael himself appears in the lower right corner.