Raphael in Reproductions

IntroductionRaphael and the anniversary that [almost] wasn'tCelebratory dates, in art history, are usually occasions to re-evaluate an artist's work and historiography. At the same time, these celebrations, be they exhibitions, congresses, publications or even commercial exploitation, reflect the social and cultural concerns of the societiesthat promote them. The 500th anniversary of Raphael's death, in 2020, promised a grand celebration, starting with a major exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale, when the COVID-19 pandemicswept all the nicely laid out plans away. All the congresses were postponed to 2021 or later; many became virtual, taking place in the now ubiquitous online platforms. Organizers of the scheduled exhibitions delayed their events - when not cancelled them altogether - but also had to find a completely different way of reaching the public in their isolation. The solution was in media tools: videos, interactive websites, online exhibitions and publications. We still do not knowhow future generations will see the celebrations of 2020 - 2021, but for us, the 500th Anniversary of Raphael's death is marked by mediated experience and reproductions. The articles presented in this volume are based on presentations and debates that occurred during the conference Raphael inReproductions. Global Perspectives. Originally set to take place in November 2020, at Villa Vigoni, it was postponed, like innumerous cultural and scientific manifestations that year, and finally ended uphappening in digital space over three very productive days between 3 and 5 May 2021. This book and the congress that originated it, therefore, are part of this larger context but also represent a reflection on these complex times we live in.Our focus, from the start, was on reproductions and the reception of Raphael, an approach that was decided even before the pandemic and eerily appropriate, considering what was about to happen. Ina year when most museums remained closed and

Joseph Imorde studied Art History, Philosophy and Musicology in Bochum, Rome and Berlin.He was editor of the architectural magazine Daidalos. In 1996 he founded the publishing house Edition Imorde. After his PhD on ephemeral architecture in the Roman Baroque he became assistant professor at the Institute of History and Theory of Architecture at the Federal Technical University (ETH) in Zurich. 2001 he joined the research group Kultbild at the University of Muenster. He finished his habilitation Michelangelo Deutsch! at the Technical University Dresden in 2008 and got a full professorship for Art History at the University of Siegen in the same year. From 2009-2011 he was Alexander-von-Humboldt Fellow at the University of Michigan, 2012 and 2017 Scholar at the Getty Research Institute. In 2021 he was appointed professor for Art History at the kunsthochschule weissensee berlin. Patricia D. Meneses is professor of Art History at State University of Campinas, Brazil (UNICAMP). Meneses earned her PhD in History of the Visual Arts at the Università degli Studi di Pisa (2009). She is the author of Baccio Pontelli a Roma. L'attività dell'architetto per Giuliano della Rovere and editor of several books such as Arte Não Europeia. Conexões Historiográficas a partir do Brasil (2020) and Aimagem como Experimento (2021). Her current research focuses on the relationship betweenscience, ecology and art in nineteenth-century visual culture.