Moses Kneeling in front of the Burning Bush

The Biblical story described in the Book of Exodus says that the burning bush was located on Mount Horeb. It was on fire, but was not consumed by the flames; hence the name. In the narrative, an angel is described as appearing in a bush, and God is subsequently described as calling out from it to Moses, who had been grazing Jethro's flocks there. When Moses starts to approach, God tells Moses to take off his sandals first, due to the place being holy ground, and Moses hides his face. Later Yahweh tells Moses that he is sending him to the Pharaoh in order to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

Here, Raphael depicted this exact moment of Moses hiding his face. For me it is a perfect image to describe 2020. Without knowing the context, it looks like a very handsome young man doing a facepalm, doesn't it? The drawing was an element from the original cartoon for the ceiling painting of Moses before the Burning Bush, designed by Raphael and painted in the vault of the Stanza di Eliodoro in the Vatican where it can still be seen today.

P.S. Raphael was called the Renaissance Prince of Painters; get to know more about this enormously talented artist here. And here's some gossip about a love affair he had with the baker’s daughter!  ;-)