Poor Raphael. Hailed as a rival of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance, he died in Rome in 1520 at age 37 at the height of his artistic power and fame. Scholars believe Raphael succumbed after suffering from a fever and bloodletting, a misguided medical treatment that probably weakened him fatally. 

Then of all things, 500 years later, the COVID-19 pandemic messed up the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death. Museums on both sides of the Atlantic had planned major exhibitions saluting “il Divino,’’ the divine one, as Raphael was known. Some shows went ahead, including the massive “Raphael, 1520-1483,’’ an innovative exhibition at the museum of the Quirinale in Rome that retraced the master’s career in reverse.