Critical Thinking Skills Through the Vatican City Stamps

Curriculum Guide

Created by Tabitha Jacques

The National Postal Museum’s Vatican City stamp collection provides a set of resources for the classroom. The subjects found on the stamps and the messages they embody touch upon many important topics from art, history, and religious studies. This curriculum guide allows teachers to review potential uses of these stamps for visual analysis and object exploration.

This curriculum guide is divided into three categories rich with potential: Saints, Biblical Stories, and Papal History. Each part provides examples and suggested strategies that will integrate other subjects. Teachers and students are encouraged to use digital images from the Vatican City stamp collection for historical research, image analysis, and religious study.

Note: Tap or click on the images to enlarge and to get more information about the original artist, pope, and year of issue.