Which Renaissance artist painted the 'School of Athens'?

The Renaissance artist who painted The School of Athens was Raphael. He created the monumental fresco between 1509 and 1511 for Pope Julius II’s rooms in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.

The painting presents an imagined gathering of ancient Greek philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists. At its center stand Plato and Aristotle, whose gestures represent contrasting approaches to knowledge: Plato points upward toward ideal realities, while Aristotle gestures toward the earthly world and empirical experience. The architecture surrounding them uses dramatic one-point perspective to draw the eye toward the central figures.

Many figures are identified as famous thinkers, including Socrates, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Archimedes, though some identifications remain uncertain. Raphael is traditionally said to have included portraits of contemporary artists: Plato may resemble Leonardo da Vinci, and Heraclitus may resemble Michelangelo. Raphael himself appears near the right edge beside Ptolemy.

The School of Athens is often confused with a painting by Leonardo or Michelangelo because both artists influenced the work and may appear in it. It is, however, Raphael’s fresco and one of the clearest visual expressions of Renaissance admiration for classical learning.