The School of Athens (Figure 1) is a fresco – a painting made in sections in fresh plaster – on one of the four walls of the room, the Stanza della Segnatura this room it is intended for the papal library in the Vatican palace. In this image Raphael pictorially represents the intellectual activity of philosophy. He chooses to represent philosophy by depicting a large number of philosophers in the midst of their activities. The fifty-eight figures that occupy the grandiose architectural space are depicted in the midst of their activity: they question themselves, discuss, demonstrate, read and write. Each figure is characterized in such a way as to not be a mere compositional device, but a shorthand representation of the figure represented (Murray, 62). Raphael made the faces of philosophers from classical statues, if known, or used his contemporaries as models (Haas, 8) Raphael's School of Athens is the first work of art to represent the epitome of Greek philosophy in a unique way . The fundamental conception of the School of Athens is unprecedented in the tradition of European art. Before Raphael, artists represented philosophy allegorically. (Most, 145). The School of Athens depicts the entire complex product of Greek thought. Greek philosophy can be divided into three phases: material, speculative, and scientific. These three phases are depicted in Raphael's work, the material and scientific ones are purely physical and occupy the lower floor, while the speculative one is depicted on the upper platform (Garigues, 409). In this article we will analyze how the three phases of Greek philosophy are so skillfully illustrated in Raphael's work The School of Athens. The School of Athens is completely unprecedented in the tr...... middle of the sheet ..... .it to the quarto, who appears lost in ecstasy at the revelation he receives (Garigues, 419). After having arranged the grouping, the expression, the tout ensemble of his characters, Raphael must have felt a little short of a suitable scene in which to place them. The grand architecture of the structure helped provide unity and opportunities to place groups harmoniously. The staircase is key to the placement of the philosophers in and through the space of the picture and allows for the construction of an architectural structure that is not only spatially rational, but is in harmony with the meaning of the subject (Murray, 64). On one side, as presiding deity, he placed the carved image of Apollo, the god of inspiration and high enterprise; on the other Minerva, the genius of wisdom, science and practical life.