700 lire "The Holy Family" single
Object Details
- Description
- On November 18, 1994, the Vatican issued a series of three Christmas stamps.
- The illustrations on the stamps are taken from a painting by the Venetian painter Jacopo Robusti, better known as "Il Tintoretto" (1518-1594). The painting, which was recently restored, is in the collection of Scula Grande di San Rocco in Venire. The diptych of two stamps depicts a Nativity scene by Tintoretto. Depicted in the upper stamp are the Holy Family and two women; in the lower stamp is a view of the stable and the Adoration Shepherds. The single stamp features the Holy Family, a detail from the painting.
- The painting was selected as the subject for these stamps partly because 1994 marked the fourth centenary of Tintoretto's death. The choice was also "motivated by the desire to reproduce a painting which would best convey the deep mystical and religious significance of the Nativity."
- The 700-lire stamp measures 41.10 x 34.45 mm, has a perforation of 11 1/2 x 11 3/4, and was issued in sheets of twenty. The diptych of two 1,000-lire stamps measures 48.29 x 29.00 mm each, with a perforation of 11 3/4 x 11 1/2. The stamps were printed on white, chalky paper in multicolored rotogravure by Helio Courvoisier S.A. (Switzerland), which printed 450,000 complete series.
- Reference:
- Crimando, Thomas. "New Issues." Vatican Notes 43, no. 4 (January 1995): 6-7.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- November 18, 1994
- Object number
- 1995.2075.175
- Type
- Postage Stamps
- Medium
- paper; ink / photogravure
- Place
- VATICAN CITY (independent city state)
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Title
- Scott Catalogue Vatican City 968
- Topic
- Contemporary (1990-present)
- International Stamps & Mail
- Record ID
- npm_1995.2075.175
