How does Raphael's School of Athens reflect Renaissance art and philosophy?

Raphael's great masterpiece "The School of Athens" is a reflection of
Renaissance ideas in that it gives pride of place to pagan scholars. Traditionally, Western art
was based on exclusively Christian themes and iconography. But after the discovery of ancient
learning that heralded the dawn of the Renaissance, artists began to utilize pagan themes in
their works, such as figures and scenes from classical mythology. (Botticelli's "Birth of
Venus" would be an obvious example).

In "The School of Athens"
Raphael presents us with a scene dominated by the great pagan philosophers of old, most notably
the central figures of Plato and Aristotle. That Raphael was able to portray such figures was a
sign of how the Church had managed to draw upon certain elements of pagan learningmost notably
the works of the Neoplatonists and the newly-discovered writings of Aristotlein making Christian
teachings philosophically respectable.

In earlier times, such a work of art
as "The School of Athens"...