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<img height='225' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1495.jpg' >
<img height='225' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1496.jpg' > 
The Madonnas of Raphael 
Scott 1495-1496 (2012)</center>
 
On March 1, 2012, Vatican City issued two stamps and two mini-sheets or leaflets featuring two magnificent depictions of the Blessed Mother by the great Renaissance artist, Rafael (Raffaello Sanzio). The two paintings were likely produced by Rafael at the same time and probably stood side-by-side in his Urbino studio.
 
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<img height='325' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1497.jpg' > 
The Madonna of Foligno 
Scott 1497 (2012)</center>
 
The Madonna of Foligno is featured on the 1.40-euro leaflet and the 0.60-euro stamp. The stamp provides a detail of the Madonna and Child. This painting is currently housed at the Pinacoteca at the Vatican. The masterpiece was commissioned by Sigismondo de’ Conti, secretary to Pope Julius II, and it was originally designed as an altarpiece for the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli in Rome. The painting shows the Madonna and Child, with Saint Francis and John the Baptist on the left and Saint Jerome with Raphael's patron, Sigismondo de’ Conti (who is kneeling), on the right. The painting also shows one of the Raphael's angels or cherubs ("putti") between the two groups under the Madonna.
 
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<img height='325' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/1498.jpg' > 
The Sistine Madonna 
Scott 1498 (2012)</center>
 
The Sistine Madonna is depicted on the 2.40-euro minisheet and the 0.75-euro stamp (which features a detail of the Madonna and Child). This painting is currently located in Dresden, Germany, at the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister (Old Masters Picture Gallery). The masterpiece was likely commissioned by Pope Julius II around the same time as the Madonna of Foligno and was originally produced for the Church of Saint Sixtus in Piacenza. This version of the Madonna includes Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara. It also includes the depiction of two angels at the bottom center of the work. The tiny angels or cherubs, sometimes referred to as the “angelic brothers”, have gained their own notoriety and are often reproduced in commercial art. They also appeared on United States “Love” stamps released in 1995. Here is a detail of the "putti":
 
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<img height='375' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Raffaels_Angels.jpg'> 
Raphael's Angels: Detail from the Sistine Madonna 
From Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain</center>
 
The two paintings were first displayed in Foligno and Piacenza. Amazingly, they were not well regarded and were eventually relocated to the papal court and to Germany, where they reside today. The two paintings, as well as the two cherubic angels, are now iconic images.
 
The 2.40-euro Sistine Madonna leaflet was part of a joint issue with Germany.
 
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REFERENCES: 
<li>Vatican Notes, Volume 60, Number 352, pp. 4-6, 2012, <a href='https://vaticanstamps.org/vaticannotes/idisplay.php?p=60-352-04-05&r=0'>Vatican City New Issues: March 2012</a> 
<li>UFN, March 1, 2012, <a href='https://vaticanstamps.org/UFN/images/2012-2-03-1.jpg'>Raphael: The Sistine Madonna and the Madonna of Foligno</a> 
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search

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