Scuola di Atene by Raffaello Sanzio (Fredele)

This fresco is called "The School of Athens" or "Scuola di Atene". Raphaelo (or Raffaello in Italian) painted it around 1509-1510 when the Pope Julius II ordered Raphaelo and many other artists to decorate the walls of the Vatican. This particular piece of art is located in a room saved especially for Raphaelo to decorate, it is known as "Stanze di Raffaello" (Rooms of Raphaelo).

The central figures are Plato and Aristotle, they are surrounded by other scholars and philosophers. According to some, the characters in the fresco are greek philosophers and painters, but it is said that they could also be contemporary (to Raphaelo) artists:

1- Zeno of Citium

2- Epicurus

3- Federico II of Mantua

4- Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles 

5- Averroes

6- Pythagoras

7- Alcibiades or Alexander the Great 

8- Antisthenes or Xenophon

9- Hypatia or Francesco Maria della Rovere

10- Aeschines or Xenophon

11- Parmenides

12- Socrates

13- Heraclitus or Michelangelo

14- Plato or Leonardo da Vinci

15- Aristotle

16- Diogenes

17- Plotinus or Michelangelo

18- Euclid or Archimedes Bramante

19- Zoroaster

20- Ptolemy

21- Protogenes or II Sodoma or Perugino or Timoteo Viti

R- Apelles or Raphael

Greek characters

Renaissance characters 

Since it’s based in ancient greeks, we can see many elements representative of this, such as the statues in the background, the architecture of the building, the clothing and the beauty stereotypes. 

I truly believe this fresco is the best work of Raphael. It is incredibly detailed, every expression is defined as well as the textures of the clothes and the sculptures. I’d be thrilled to see it live. (:


Sources:
Humanities web. The School of Athens. (2010) Consulted at: 25th September, 2010. <http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=g&p=c&a=p&ID=849>
Mlahanas web. The School of Athens, Who is who?. Michael Lahanas. (2006) Consulted at: 25th September, 2010. <http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/SchoolAthens.htm>


References: 
Wikipedia. The School of Athens. (2010) Consulted at: 25th September, 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_School_of_Athens#cite_note-7>