April 6, 2020, marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Renaissance artist Raphael.
The Vatican has already commemorated Raphael, with a rare display of his tapestries in the Sistine Chapel.
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is also marking the anniversary, with an exhibit titled, “Raphael and His Circle.” The exhibit brings together works from the museum’s collections of prints and drawings by the master and his associates, many of which are not regularly on view, the Federalist reported.
Fortunately for anyone who was in Rome before the outbreak of the coronavirus, the Vatican exhibit did take place the week of February 17. Unfortunately for anyone who was hoping to see the National Gallery of Art show, the pandemic has temporarily closed the museum, as it has many other public places.
Here, however, is a slideshow of some of Raphael’s most beautiful religious paintings, mostly of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
And today we celebrate...