"School of Athens" by Raphael, Raphael Rooms, Vatican Museum (48466167851)

At the center of a vast vaulted hall, Plato and Aristotle engage in discussion while gesturing toward the heavens and the earth, respectively. Surrounding them are groups of thinkers such as Pythagoras, who demonstrates mathematical proportions on a tablet, and Euclid, who uses a compass to instruct students. Statues of Apollo and Athena watch over the assembly from niches, symbolizing the harmony of the arts and wisdom.

This work represents the peak of High Renaissance Neoplatonism, visually reconciling the divergent paths of idealistic and empirical philosophy into a single pursuit of truth. It embodies the concept of 'prisca theologia,' the idea that ancient pagan wisdom contains a shared, divine truth that prefigures Christian revelation.