# The School of Athens

- Raphael, 1509–1511, fresco
- Where to find it: Room of the Segnatura, one of the Raphael Rooms, [Vatican Museums](https://guideworld.co/en/rome/vatican-museums/index.md)
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186953
- URL: https://guideworld.co/en/rome/vatican-museums/the-school-of-athens/
- Japanese: https://guideworld.co/ja/rome/vatican-museums/the-school-of-athens/index.md

It's in the Room of the Segnatura, one of the four Raphael Rooms, on your way to the Sistine Chapel.

Stop 8 of 10 in [Vatican Museums Highlights](https://guideworld.co/en/rome/vatican-museums/tours/vatican-museums-highlights/index.md): "Fifty thinkers, one impossible moment". Preview (0:47): https://guideworld.co/audio/vatican-museums-highlights/en/the_school_of_athens.e57d6750c3.mp3

It was among the first works Raphael painted in the Vatican, while Michelangelo was at work on the Sistine Chapel ceiling nearby.

Plato and Aristotle stand at the center: Plato points upward, his Timaeus in his hand, and Aristotle beside him holds his Ethics.

In the foreground, a man leans on a block of marble, writing on a sheet of paper. He's Heraclitus, and he has Michelangelo's face.

On the right, Euclid bends over his pupils, teaching them geometry. Near the right edge, a young man in a black beret looks straight out at you: Raphael himself.

## More at the Vatican Museums

- [The Last Judgment](https://guideworld.co/en/rome/vatican-museums/the-last-judgment/index.md)