Vatican City 2020 €2 Euro BU Coin 500th Anniversary of the Death of Raphael (Raf

Description

This release recognizes the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483–1520), better known as Raphael in English, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. He had a precocious talent and acknowledged embodying the supreme ideal of serenity and beauty of the Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.
“It is beauty, like truth, which brings joy to the heart of man and is that precious fruit which resists the wear and tear of time, which unites generations and makes them share things in admiration” (Pope Paul VI). Even today, the world in which we live, like that of 500 years ago, in which Raffaello Sanzio -- known as the Prince of Painters -- lived and worked, “needs beauty in order not to sink into despair.” In order to celebrate the genius from Urbino on the 500th anniversary of his death, Daniela Longo has designed for the Vatican City State a two-euro coin that reproduces and interprets the nostalgia for beauty seen in Raphael’s eyes in the self-portrait present in the fresco of the School of Athens and in the expressions of the two unforgettable little angels that he depicted and placed at the base of the Sistine Madonna, a surprisingly natural element in this astounding work. “Make room for the great Raphael” -- these were the words with which Frederick Augustus III welcomed the Sistine Madonna in Dresden in 1757 and where it is still kept today at the Gemälderie Alte Maister, which is still considered one of the most beautiful works ever made by the brilliant Italian Renaissance painter.
Mint: Italian Mint
Denomination: €2
Quality: Brilliant Uncirculated
Issue limit: 67,000 pcs.
Alloy: Base Metal
Diameter: 25.75 mm
Weight: 8.5 grams
Artist: Daniela Longo
Box/Capsule: No/Blister
Certificate: Printed folder
Please note that I am shipping from overseas.  Consequently, delivery will take longer than usual -- sometimes much longer.  Right now, delivery to the US is generally taking around six weeks, while delivery to Europe and Asia can take up to eight weeks.  Please understand that there is nothing I can do to speed up the delivery time, and please bear this in mind when bidding.  If you are not willing or able to wait for a very slow international delivery, please do not bid on this item.