The School of Athens is a fresco measuring 4.42 meters high by 7.70 meters long. It was painted by Raphael between 1509 and 1510 in the Stanza della Segnatura ( Room of the Signature) in the Vatican. Pope Julius II commissioned this work. Julius II was a patron of the arts during his reign and marked the era of Raphael and Michelangelo with numerous commissions. It was during his pontificate that St. Peter's Basilica was rebuilt and the Vatican expanded. He also had certain rooms of the palace redecorated, as was the case with the Stanza della Segnatura. Initially, this space was dedicated to the signing of papal bulls and encyclicals. Julius II decided to transform it into a personal library to house his most precious books. He wished for the decoration to glorify the wisdom of the Catholic Church and praise the philosophy of science and the arts as a solid foundation for his pontificate. Some sixty philosophers and... Ancient mathematicians are depicted within the walls of a building with superb architecture, corresponding to the design of St. Peter's Basilica sketched by Bramante. The ruff, which is not only used to represent illustrious men of antiquity by lending them the features of his contemporaries, is a key element. Leonardo da Vinci, for example, is shown leaning towards Bramante, and Heraclitus is portrayed as Michelangelo. The Pope wishes to demonstrate the importance of artists in his time. In the lower center of the painting, two figures are noticeable who, despite their presence, seem entirely absent from the scene. The first is none other than Diogenes the Cynic, standing in the middle of the staircase, absorbed in his reading and, as usual, completely indifferent to what is happening around him. The second figure is Heraclitus in the guise of Michelangelo. It so happens that he was entirely absent from the preparatory cartoons for the fresco, and for good reason: Raphael did not much care for Michelangelo and had not planned to include him in his work, it would seem. At the request of Julius II, the painter was forced to add this figure even though the fresco was completely finished. Compelled to obey, Raphael thus depicts Heraclitus with the features of Michelangelo, but completely excludes him from the composition. He is not affiliated with any of the numerous groups composing the painting and is not dressed in the ancient style like the others. With a little attention, you can recognize the painter amidst a group of artists. We discreetly observe all these thinkers, mathematicians, scientists, gathered in the same room, exchanging ideas while working. Students let float before our eyes the dreamlike image of an ideal civilization where nothing supplants the beauty of intelligence. This was the School of Athens, in short.