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- 500 lire View of Cracow Cathedral single
500 lire View of Cracow Cathedral single
Object Details
- Description
- On May 18, 1979, the Vatican Post Office issued four stamps commemorating the nine hundredth anniversary of the death of St. Stanislaus, the patron saint of Poland.
- St. Stanislas became bishop of Cracow in 1072. He soon came into conflict with King Boleslav II of Poland, whom Stanislas eventually excommunicated. Stanislas reportedly died at the hand of Boleslav himself in 1079. Innocent IV canonized Stanislas in 1253, and his feast day is celebrated May 8.
- In the fourteenth century, after being destroyed by fire, Cracow Cathedral was rebuilt. The cathedral is a popular pilgrimage site for veneration of St. Stanislas, whose relics are kept there.
- In 1504, Martinus Marczinecz, the official goldsmith of the court, designed the container or reliquary to hold the head of St. Stanislaus. Elizabeth of Hungary (1436-1505) and her two sons, King John Albert (1492-1501) and Cardinal Frederic Jagiello, the bishop of Cracow, endowed the work.
- The 120-lire value depicts the martyrdom of Stanislaus. The 150-lire value depicts the apparition of Stanislaus to the people of Cracow. Both values are reproductions from a fourteenth-century Latin Codex, no. 8541. The 250-lire value depicts the reliquary. The 500-lire value shows the Cracow Cathedral as it appeared in the fourteenth century. Printed across the top of each of the stamps is "S. STANISLAUS 1079-1970." Printed across the bottom of each stamp are "POSTE VATICANE" and the value.
- The stamps are vertical in format, measuring 24 x 40 mm with a perforation of 13 1/4 x 14. The stamps were issued in sheets of forty and were produced on white glossy paper in multicolor photogravure printing. The Polygraphic Institute and Mint of the Italian State did the printing, producing 1,200,000 complete series.
- Reference:
- Trent, Joseph. "St. Stanislaus Commemoratives." Vatican Notes 28, no. 1 (July-August 1979): 1.
- Corbin, Lois Lunsford. "St Stanislas." Vatican Notes 31, no. 4 (January 1983): 4-6.
- Data Source
- National Postal Museum
- Date
- May 18, 1979
- Object number
- 1983.0147.19507
- Type
- Postage Stamps
- Medium
- paper; ink (multicolored);
- Place
- VATICAN CITY (independent city state)
- See more items in
- National Postal Museum Collection
- Title
- Scott Catalogue Vatican City 651
- Topic
- International Stamps & Mail
- Record ID
- npm_1983.0147.19507
- Usage
- Usage conditions apply
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