In this essay, I explore Plato’s critique of art as mere imitation from The Republic. I explicate Plato’s argument, before turning to a defence of the arts by critiquing Plato’s conception of art as mimesis through Parmigianino’s painting ‘Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror,’ and Josh Ashbery’s poem of the same name. The essay combines a traditional philosophical essay with a more abstract form of critique, drawing on visual art and poetic analysis to argue against Plato’s metaphysical claims about the truthfulness of art.