Raphael, The School of Athens, begun 1509; Vatican Museums (4) (48759101127)

Plato, on the left, points upward toward the heavens while holding his Timaeus, while Aristotle gestures toward the earth with his hand held flat, carrying his Ethics. They are surrounded by various students and thinkers, with the solitary, reclining figure of Diogenes the Cynic resting on the steps below them. The figures are framed by a massive, classical triumphal arch that leads the eye into a deep architectural perspective.

This work represents the intellectual synthesis of the Renaissance, specifically the reconciliation of Platonic idealism and Aristotelian empiricism. Plato's Timaeus, seen here, was the foundational text for Neoplatonic cosmology and the Renaissance understanding of the World Soul.