Celebratory 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
societies that promote them. The 500th anniversary of Raphael¿s death in 2020 was directly
affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. Congresses and exhibitions were postponed and with the
extended duration of this public health threat the solution was found in media tools: videos
interactive websites online exhibitions and publications. °is book and the congress that
originated it are part of this context but also represent a reflection on virtual and mediated
aesthetic experiences such as those which marked Raphael¿s festivities. The articles presented
in this volume focus on reproductions and the reception of Raphael and his art. The debate
around replication touches on several aspects of visual studies. From a manual copy to digital
photographic reproductions these images concern debates about image circulation aesthetic
mediation museological and curatorial registry cultural constructions and very öen
instrumentalization of an original work and its multiple values. The studies included in this
volume cover many of these aspects focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries before
the advent of the digital image. °is period marks the development of the idea of high fidelity
in art reproductions as well as the widespread diffusion of popular cheap images related to
art history.
