Vatican · 500th anniversary of the death of Raffael

Raffaello Sanzio, usually called Raffael in German, was born in 1483 in Urbino. Alongside Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, he was one of the defining artists of the Italian High Renaissance. After his training in central Italy, he initially worked in Florence. Around 1508, he was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II. There, he created numerous paintings for the papal court as well as designs for architecture and furnishings.

Raffael is particularly closely associated with the Vatican through the Stanze named after him. These rooms in the Apostolic Palace were decorated with frescoes under his direction. Among them is the School of Athens (“Schule von Athen”), a depiction of ancient philosophers in an idealised architectural setting. The frescoes combined Christian theology, ancient scholarship and the political self-image of the Renaissance papacy. Under Pope Leo X, Raffael was given further commissions. After the death of Donato Bramante, he also took over the direction of the work on the new construction of St Peter’s Basilica (Petersdom). However, his building plans, later modified, were only partially realised.

The two angels depicted on the coin motif come from Raffael’s painting the Sistine Madonna (“Sixtinische Madonna”). They lean on a balustrade at the bottom of the painting and look upwards. The altarpiece was intended for the church of San Sisto in Piacenza and is now in Dresden. The two figures were later frequently separated from the religious context as a whole and reproduced as an independent motif. As a result, they are among Raffael’s most easily recognisable creations.

Raffael died in Rome and was buried in the Pantheon. The choice by the Vatican City State is explained above all by his work for the popes and by the works preserved in the Vatican to this day. The anniversary year therefore provided an opportunity to commemorate not only the painter but also his role in the artistic embellishment of papal Rome.