Interestingly, there is one man, who originally was absent from Raphael’s preliminary drawings for the School of Athens. If one were to consult the preliminary drawings for the School of Athens and compare them to the fresco, one figure would be missing from the cartoon. It is the seated figure writing behind a desk representing Heraclitus, a quite pessimistic and obscure thinker, known as the “Weeping Philosopher”. Ironically, he is portrayed after Michelangelo! The great philosopher and the Renaissance painter were quite similar in many ways, as they were both melancholic and tended to avoid the company of others. Why was Raphael’s famous rival included in the painting as well? After seeing Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine, Raphael decided to insert his portrait in the painting. Was it a way to show his true admiration or an act of wry humor?