“The Italian design is a portrait of Dante Alighieri by Raphael. Dante was a poet in the Middle Ages and is considered the father of the Italian language while Raphael was a master artist and architect of the High Renaissance. The original portrait, part of the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament, is in the Apostolic Palace of Vatican City. The coin was chosen through a televised contest involving a public phone in vote. The interpretation for the coin was engraved by Maria Carmela and it includes the interconnected letters IR (for Repubblica Italiana – Italian Republic), the year and the mint mark are shown to the left of Dante’s face.”    —Wikipedia, “2 euro coin”