Man’s pursuit of knowledge is celebrated in this large fresco. Rational thinkers and scientists are gathered together on the steps of an arcade and Raphael’s one-point perspective encourages the eye to fall directly upon the two founding fathers of philosophy, Plato and Aristotle. Plato is to the left with his hand pointing to the heavens, the World of Ideas, while Aristotle is on the right with his arm outstretched. It is interesting to note that Plato is depicted by Raphael as Leonardo Da Vinci, the Renaissance humanist ideal. To the left of them on the bottom, Epicurious is crowned with vine leaves, as he supported the pursuit of pleasure, while the mathematician Pythagoras writes feverishly in his large book. Euclid, the father of modern geometry, is portrayed to the right holding a compass, while Zoroaster and Ptolemy are presented to hold their astrological sphere and globe, respectively. The young man with the black beret, who stands next to Zoroaster and peaks out at you, is none other than Raphael himself! Standing next to the pillar on the right; he is looking straight out at you probably wondering whether you like his painting.