The School of Athens

The defining image of the High Renaissance — all the great philosophers of antiquity in one hall. Centre: Plato (painted as Leonardo) and Aristotle. Around them Pythagoras, Euclid, Socrates, Diogenes, and brooding Heraclitus — painted as Michelangelo, added after Raphael saw the Sistine ceiling in progress. On the far right, Raphael himself stares out at the viewer. Technically perfect, painted in direct competition with Michelangelo next door.