If banknotes are the embodiment of a country's culture and art, then there is no doubt that the largest denomination banknote 500,000 lira used in Italy is a clever combination of human cultural atmosphere and artistic connotation to the extreme.
Italy is located on the Apennine Peninsula in southern Europe, including Sardinia and Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 301,300 square kilometers and a population of 60.24 million.
It is also the cradle of European culture, which gave birth to the Etruscan civilization and Roman culture, and of course the birthplace of the European Renaissance in the Middle Ages.
Italy is one of the countries with the largest number of World Heritage Sites in the world, and among the 55 world historical and cultural heritage sites, Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Colosseum are located in this ancient country.
Water city Venice
Pisa
The Colosseum
"Lira" is the name of the currency before Italy began using the euro in 2002, and was once used in the Vatican, San Marino and other countries.
On 15 September 1997, the Bank of Italy issued a maximum face value of 500,000 LIRa with a face size of 163x78 mm. At that time, the exchange rate could be exchanged for more than 1800 yuan, which can be described as a well-deserved strong banknote.
Pearlescent ink printed number 500000
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="57" > 500,000 LIR front</h1>
The figure on the front of the banknote is a self-portrait by raphael Sanzio, a famous Italian painter of the European Renaissance.
The portrait of Raphael on the banknote is from Toronto, italy's chief engraver. In the hand of Gionice, although raphael's face shape is slightly different from the original painting, the exquisite and delicate figure lines can still reflect the aura of the master painter Raphael.
Raphael was born in the Italian town of Urbino, was a famous Italian painter during the Renaissance, and was known as the "Three Masters of the Renaissance" along with Da Vinci and Michelangelo.
reach. Finch
Michelangelo
The series of portraits of the Virgin Mary that he is good at painting all show humanistic ideas with maternal warmth and youthful fitness, representing the peak that Renaissance artists can achieve in the cause of ideal beauty, and are revered in the history of Western art as "painting saints".
His representative works include "The Virgin in the Garden", "Our Lady of the Sistine", "The Girl in the Scarf", "The Academy of Athens" and so on.
The Virgin in the Garden, written between 1507 and 1508
Our Lady in the Garden
The Sistine Madonna, created in 1514
Our Lady of the Sistine
The Girl in the Scarf, created in 1518-1519
"The Girl in the Scarf"
Raphael's Self-Portrait, which he himself created when he was 23 years old, depicts his own thin face, with gentle and curly hair that gives people a feeling of weakness.
And in the depths of the beautiful and delicate eyes, there is a trace of imperceptible melancholy and confusion, which penetrates into the heart of the viewer.
Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)
The pattern in the middle of the 500,000-lilet face is derived from the second half of Raphael's 1511 fresco The Triumph of Galatia.
The mural, which measures 2.95 x 2.25 meters in size, is currently housed in the Palazzo D'Élegna in Rome, Italy.
Depicts the naked goddess Galatia riding a huge conch shell pulled by a dolphin, pairs of mermaids and the water god of the sea surround her in the water, and in the sky above the goddess is the goddess of love who pulls a full bow.
The Triumph of Galatia
The painting is divided into two halves, with emphasis on the lower half, although the various characters have different postures and are full of movement, but the picture appears harmonious and harmonious.
The shaded lines are very soft and full, the colors are plain, and although they are carefully modified, they do not exceed the style of the main picture.
The contrast of color light and dark is also set off by various colors to achieve a full tension effect. This perfection comes precisely from a deliberately elaborate style: a tightness and balance that does not reveal its traces.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > the back of 500,000 LIR</h1>
Part of the text on the back
The motif is taken from the famous fresco "The School of Athens" created by Raphael in 1510-1511 AD.
The overall size of the fresco is 6.172 x 2.194 meters, and the painting is currently in the collection of the Vatican Museums in Italy.
The painting uses an arched dome as the background, with a high level of perspective, which enhances the spatial three-dimensional and far-reaching sense of the picture. The whole painting is magnificent and the scene is magnificent.
Academy of Athens
The origin of this painting stems from the fact that in 1509 Pope Julius II hired the 26-year-old Raphael to decorate his Vatican Palace with frescoes.
The mural is based on the anecdotes of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato holding the Academy of Athens, which breaks the boundaries of time and space with extremely inclusive and free ideas, bringing together a total of 57 cultural celebrities representing different disciplines such as philosophy, mathematics, music, and astronomy.
Plato and Aristotle
In the form of recalling the golden age of history, it pins on the author's yearning for a better future, expresses the concentrated praise of those who pursue wisdom and truth of mankind, and reflects the scene of the classical period when schools were lined up and competed with each other.
Greek mathematician Euclid (the man in red) who leaned over to draw mathematical geometry.
The thematic idea of "The Academy of Athens" heralds the revival of the human spirit of reason nurtured from the soil of ancient Greece and Rome, and is also the artist's concentrated praise for the pursuit of wisdom and truth by human beings.
The vine pattern is against the print
Grapevines on the back of the banknote
Overall, this Italian 500,000 lira note has a strong sense of history and art, not only shining with the light of the master, but also the strong human artistic atmosphere emitted from the banknote is dazzling, and it is really a treasure in the collection of paper money.