In the early 1500s, two of the greatest artists of all time were working just a few rooms apart in the Vatican. Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the same time Raphael was working on a painting in the Pope’s private library: The School of Athens. Both are considered masterpieces of the Renaissance. Michelangelo’s work sets out to reveal divine truth through the human form, while Raphael’s work celebrates human intellect and classical heritage. Two defining ideas of the Renaissance. Michelangelo, a brooding, difficult loner, paints figures charged with emotion and tension, figures who often struggle alone and who are deeply introspective. By contrast Raphael was sociable, charming and widely adored, and his work is balanced, serene and idealised. His figures are elegant, calm, engaged, and intellectually poised. The sort of company the artist surrounded himself with in real life.

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