Gaetano Ieluzzo. The stamp commemorates the "Giornata della filatelia 2011" (Philately Day 2011). In the center of the stamp is a reproduction of the 1965 Italian 500-lire postage stamp showing the Naples Bust of Dante. The background comprises a collage of the following designs: 1.) Lower left: the Italian cancellation of November 30, 2007, showing Dante in profile; 2.) Upper right: the Italian cancellation of October 23, 2009, showing a representation of Dante's hell; and 3.) Lower right: An envelope stamped with three 25-centesimi Italian "Proclamation of the Empire" postage stamps from 1938 designed by Corrado Mezzana. The maximum card's cancellation has the same design as the stamp.]]> Gaetano Ieluzzo. The cancellation reproduces the 1965 Italian 500-lire postage stamp showing the Naples Bust of Dante; the Italian cancellation of November 30, 2007, showing Dante in profile; the Italian cancellation of October 23, 2009, showing a representation of Dante's hell; and an envelope stamped with three 25-centesimi Italian "Proclamation of the Empire" postage stamps from 1938 designed by Corrado Mezzana.
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This postage stamp is the 25th in a series issued to commemorate the Giornata della Filatelia (Philately Day). In the center of the stamp is a reproduction of the 1965 Italian 500-lire postage stamp showing the Naples Bust of Dante. The background comprises a collage of the following designs: (1) lower left: the Italian cancellation of November 30, 2007, showing Dante in profile; (2) upper right: the Italian cancellation of October 23, 2009, showing a representation of Dante's hell; and (3) lower right: an envelope stamped with three 25-centesimi Italian "Proclamation of the Empire" postage stamps from 1938 designed by Corrado Mezzana.

In the upper left corner of the stamp is text as follows: "GIORNATA / DELLA / FILATELIA / PROGETTO / DANTE" (Philately Day Dante Project); across the bottom of the stamp is "LA DIVINA COMMEDIA ATTRAVERSO LA FILATELIA" (The Divina commedia through philately). Along the bottom edge of the stamp is the abbreviated name of the printer: "I.P.Z.S. S.p.A. - ROMA - 2011" (Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato) and the designer: "G. IELUZZO" (Gaetano Ieluzzo).

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These stamps were issued by Italy as part of two series (a regular issue with ten stamps and an air mail issue with six stamps) for the "Proclamation of the Empire" featuring prominent Italians and other propaganda imagery. The three Dante stamps have the same design by Corrado Mezzana: a standing figure of the poet, holding a book, with a large imperial eagle in the background. On the regular issue 25-centesimi stamp, a 1925 quotation by Benito Mussolini appears below Dante: "IL PIV ALTO GENIO / DELLA POESIA" (The highest genius of poetry).1 Dante's birth and death years flank the quotation and Mussolini's initial "M" appears below it. At the bottom is "POSTE ITALIANE" and the denomination "CENT. / 25". The other two stamps share the same text as follows: vertically, along the left side: "POSTA AEREA" (air mail); and vertically, along the right side: "ITALIANA"; their respective denominations are at the bottom. Along the bottom edge of each stamp are the abbreviated name of the printer, "IST. POL. STATO. OFF. CARTE VALORI" (Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte Valori), and the designer, "C. MEZZANA".]]> iBolli.it.]]> Dante: Rivista internazionale di studi su Dante Alighieri 10 (2013): 127.]]>