In 1527, mutinous imperial troops sacked Rome. They looted churches, held the Pope under siege, and scrawled graffiti in the Vatican. One of them carved “LUTHER” into Raphael’s fresco, the Disputation of the Holy Sacrament. The scratches remain almost 500 years later. So is the fresco, and millions of people still come to see it.
Doomscroll Buster is a series of short videos about people who faced dark times and made beauty anyway. Watch them all in the Doomscroll Buster section at pastpassport.com.