School of Athens

The "School of Athens" (or "Philosophy of Athens") is one of a group of four large frescoes that depict four distinct branches of knowledge: 

1. Philosophy:  “Seek Knowledge of Causes” (TRUTH)
2. Poetry & Music:  “Divine Inspiration” (BEAUTY)
3. Theology: “Knowledge of Things Divine” (GOODNESS)
4. Law:  “To Each What Is Due”

The frescoes decorate the four 'Stanze di Raffaello' ("Raphael's rooms") of the Palace of the Vatican - the official residence of the Pope (Vatican City, Italy).  Raphael's "School of Athens", his masterpiece, decorates the West Wall of the Stanza della Segnatura ("Room of the Signatura").  The wall frescoes of Raphael and Michelangelo's ceiling frescoes in the Sistine Chapel are the perfect embodiment of classical High Renaissance in Rome.

In the center “School of Athens” are Plato on the left and Aristotle (384-322BC), his student, on the right.  They hold bound copies of their books in their left hands, while pointing with their right. Plato holds Timaeus, Aristotle his Nicomachean Ethics.

Their gestures indicate central aspects of their philosophies, for Plato, his Theory of Forms (‘Ideas’), and for Aristotle, his empiricist views, with an emphasis on concrete particulars.  Plato's  method is essentially deductive from a priori principles, whereas Aristotle's method is essentially both inductive and deductive.

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