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Michelangelo’s rivalry with Raphael reaches new heights in Rome, while a violent religious schism engulfs Europe and makes the artist question everything.

As Michelangelo sets to work on the Sistine Chapel, his rival Raphael is working on the pope’s private apartments just a few hundred metres away. Each man is determined to outdo the other and win the favour of the pontiff.

Meanwhile, Raphael unveils The School of Athens: a work of iconic beauty that casts Julius II as the inheritor of the wisdom of the classical world, with the figures of Plato and Aristotle surrounded by great thinkers.

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59 minutes

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Credits

Role Contributor
Narrator Sophie Okonedo
Old Michelangelo Charles Dance
Michelangelo Eddie Mann
Leonardo da Vinci Jonny Glynn
Raphael Joshua Duffy
Director Emma Frank
Producer Richard Pearson
Producer Eddie Knox
Consultant Jerry Brotton
Executive Producer Alexander Leith

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