# The School of Athens \(detail\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [RAFFAELLO Sanzio]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Fresco ## Commentary Below the tondo on the vault representing Philosophy, ancient philosophers have assembled in the School of Athens. In the centre Plato and Aristotle carry books they have written: Timaeus and Ethics, respectively. Their gestures are rich in meanings: Plato points upward, into the sphere of higher thoughts. With his outstretched hand Aristotle is presumably alluding to his mastery of natural phenomena. On the steps in front of Aristotle rests the Cynic philosopher Diogenes, with the cup that he tossed away. ## Related artworks - [A Group of Nude Men]() - [A Group of Warriors]() - [A nude man advancing to the right \(verso\)]() - [A Soldier before the Cell of St Peter]() - [A Youthful Warrior \(recto\)]() - [Adam and Eve \(ceiling panel\)]() - [Aerial view]() - [Aldobrandini Madonna \(Garvagh Madonna\)]() - [Allegory \(The Knight's Dream\)]() - [Amorini at play \(verso\)]() - [An Angel]() - [Angel \(fragment of the Baronci Altarpiece\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()