The School of Athens (1509–10), 770 cm, fresco, Vatican Museums, Rome. The School of Athens is Raphael's most outstanding fresco, depicting the Academy of Athens founded by the ancient Greek idealist philosopher Plato, gathering more than fifty Greek philosophers, scientists, artists, and contemporary celebrities and scholars. Centered on Plato (note that Raphael modeled the sage Plato after Leonardo da Vinci) and Aristotle to his right, they embody wisdom and truth. Beside Plato stands Alexander in a white robe with arms crossed over his chest. Behind him, an elder in a pale green robe is the philosopher Socrates, conversing with four young men; the armored officer is Alcibiades. In the left foreground, Pythagoras, the mathematician, is surrounded by people intently practicing mathematics. Behind him, Avicenna, a famous medieval Arab scholar, leans forward with a "white turban" to observe Pythagoras. Behind him, leaning against a pillar reading while wearing a laurel wreath, is the philosopher Epicurus. Standing before the mathematicians, wearing yellow with a purple cloak, is the rhetorician Saint Nocolites; behind him, the blonde youth looking at us is the Duke of Urbino. In the center foreground, reclining half-naked on the steps is Diogenes, the ancient Greek Cynic philosopher; to the left, the thinker is Heraclitus. Around Aristotle, a group of scholars listens to the two philosophers discuss their ideas. On the far right middle ground, Zeno, a famous Stoic philosopher, stands alone in a dark red cloak, lost in contemplation. Before Zeno, Archimedes, the mathematician, bends down with a compass drawing geometry on the ground; behind him, Ptolemy, the astronomer, holds a celestial model; opposite them are Bramante and others. Mount Parnassus: centered on Apollo, god of arts and literature, surrounded by the nine Muses governing literature, art, and science, and poets past and present. If civilization lies in representing the essence of a generation's thought through imagination, then these Vatican frescoes symbolize the pinnacle of Western civilization. (The Three Virtues: also known as Wisdom, Gentleness, and Perseverance—Truth in the center, Power on the left, Temperance on the right.)