500th Anniversary of the Death of Raphael

A self-portrait of the world-famous Italian Renaissance painter and architect, taken from the fresco 'The School of Athens' (original size 550 x 770 cm). At the upper right, the commemorative inscription 'RAFFAELLO SANZIO' appears in a semicircle, with the years '1520' and '2020' below. In the centre, a fragment of the two famous angels from 'The Sistine Madonna' (c. 1513–1514, Gemäldegalerie 'Alte Meister' in Dresden), with the issuing state 'CITTA’ DEL VATICANO' below. Along the lower edge, the Rome Mint mark 'R', the designer's name 'D. LONGO', and the initials of engraver 'SP INC.' (Silvia Petrassi).

Raphael is one of the central figures of the Italian Renaissance and has left a lasting mark on European art history to this day. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, born in 1483 in the central Italian town of Urbino, quickly developed a style that combined clarity, harmony and idealised beauty in ways never before achieved. At the papal court in Rome, he created for Julius II and Leo X a body of work that fused theology, philosophy and pictorial programme into a single whole. His fresco cycle in the Vatican Stanze — including the famous School of Athens, one of the most prominent works in Western painting — turned the Apostolic Palace into a focal point of humanist scholarship and artistic ambition. Raphael did not work alone but led a large workshop and, as an architect, also took over the construction management of St Peter's Basilica after Bramante's death.

The close relationship between Raphael and Rome — specifically the papal Vatican — carries particular symbolic weight for the issuing country. No other place preserves his legacy more completely: the Stanze, the Loggias, portrait paintings and architectural designs remain accessible in the Vatican today and are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Raphael died on 6 April 1520, his 37th birthday, in Rome — an early death that marked the loss of an artist at the height of his powers. In 2020, the Vatican commemorated the 500th anniversary of Raphael's death with this issue, continuing a centuries-old bond between the Holy See and one of the greatest painters in world history.