Italy: Central detail from 'The School of Athens', featuring Greek philosophers Plato (red robe) and Aristotle (blue robe). Raphael (1483 - 1520), painted between 1509-1511 (Apostolic Palace, Vatican City). 'The School of Athens', or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.