Postage Stamp - Italy - 1965

Title

Postage Stamp - Italy - 1965

Type

Postage Stamp

Coverage

Italy

Date Issued

1965-10-21

Date Valid

1965-10-21-1966-12-31

Description

This set of four postage stamps was issued to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante's birth. Three of the stamps each depict a scene apiece from one of the parts of the Divina commediaInferno, Purgatorio, or Paradiso. The fourth stamp shows the Naples Bust of Dante. The subjects are as follows:
  • The 40-lire stamp depicts a scene from Inferno 10 in which Dante and Virgil meet the entombed Florentine heretics Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti. The scene is taken from a miniature in Cod. Urb. lat. 365, a fifteenth-century manuscript in the Vatican Library.
  • The 90-lire stamp depicts a scene from Purgatorio 26–27 in which the angel of chastity points Dante, Virgil, and Statius toward a wall of fire through which they will pass. The scene is taken from a miniature in MS It. IX, 276 (=6902), a fourteenth-century manuscript in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.
  • The 130-lire stamp depicts a scene from Paradiso 24 in which St. Peter interrogates Dante—accompanied by Beatrice—about the poet's faith. The scene is taken from a miniature by Giovanni di Paolo in Yates Thompson 36, a fifteenth-century manuscript in the British Library.
  • The 500-lire stamp depicts the Naples Bust of Dante.
At the top of each stamp is "1265-DANTE ALIGHIERI-1321" and along the bottom is "POSTE ITALIANE" and the denomination. Along the bottom edge of each stamp is the abbreviated name of the printer: "I.P.S.-OFF.CART.VAL. 1965" (Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte Valori).

This series was deemed "Most Beautiful Stamp of 1965" by readers of the Italian stamp collecting magazine Il Collezionista.1
Denomination: L. 40 (40 ITL); L. 90 (90 ITL); L. 130 (130 ITL); L. 500 (500 ITL)
Perforation: 13 ½ × 14 (comb) (L. 40; L. 90); 14 × 13 ½ (comb) (L. 130); 14 (comb) (L. 500)
Printing process: Photogravure
Print run: 29,799,691 (L. 40); 13,509,253 (L. 90); 9,217,442 (L. 130); 2,746,692 (L. 500)

Extent

40 × 30 mm (L. 40)
40 × 30 mm (L. 90)
30 × 40 mm (L. 130)
40 × 30 mm (L. 500)

Bibliographic Citation

Michel no. 1188 (L. 40)
Michel no. 1189 (L. 90)
Michel no. 1190 (L. 130)
Michel no. 1191 (L. 500)
Sassone no. 1004 (L. 40)
Sassone no. 1005 (L. 90)
Sassone no. 1006 (L. 130)
Sassone no. 1007 (L. 500)
Scott no. 917 (L. 40)
Scott no. 918 (L. 90)
Scott no. 919 (L. 130)
Scott no. 920 (L. 500)
Francesco Giuliani, "Dante nella filatelia italiana," Dante: Rivista internazionale di studi su Dante Alighieri 10 (2013): 132.

Contributor

Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte Valori (Rome, Italy)
Giovanni di Paolo

Language

Italian