The School of Athens
There can be little doubt that Apelles was one of the most bold and progressive of artists. Such was his fame that several Italian Renaissance painters repeated his subjects, in a vain hope of giving some notion of the composition of them. Raphael may have portrayed himself as Apelles in "The School of Athens" and Sandro Botticelli based two paintings—"The Birth of Venus" and "Calumny of Apelles"—on his works.