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  • 650 lire Asa single
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650 lire Asa single

Object Details

Description
On April 9, 1991, Vatican City issued a series of twelve definitive stamps. The stamps feature details from six of fourteen lunettes depicting Christ's ancestors. Painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti, the lunettes appear in the Sistine Chapel.
The values and designs are as follows:
50- and 100-lire - Lunette of Eleazar
150- and 250-lire- Lunette of Jacob
350- and 400-lire - Lunette of Josiah
500- and 650-lire - Lunette of Asa
800- and 1,000-lire - Lunette of Zerubbabel
2,000- and 3,000-lire - Lunette of Azor
Named for Pope Sixtus IV (1414-1484), the chapel was constructed between 1475 and 1481 and is located on the site of a fourteenth century chapel, the "Capella Magna." Immediately following its completion, artists Perugino, Sandro Botticelle, Domenico Chirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli,, and Luca Signorelli painted the side walls with scenes from the lives of Moses and of Christ. From 1508 to 1512, Michelangelo painted his famous ceiling frescoes of Old Testament scenes, ranging from the Creation to the story of Noah. At the same time, he painted prophets and sibyls along the sides as well as the Ancestors of Christ in the lunettes above the chapel windows. Between 1536 and 1542, he painted the Last Judgment on the wall behind the main altar.
The restoration of the Sistine Chapel began with the cleaning of the paintings on the side walls (1964 to 1974). This was followed by the restoration of the roof (1975), the cleaning of the frescoes on the entrance wall (1979), of the lunettes (1980-84), and of the ceiling (1985-90).
Helio Courvoisier S.A. of Switzerland produced the stamps on white chalky paper in multicolor rotogravure print. They are horizontal in format, measuring 33.4 x 28mm. They have a perforation of 11 3/4, and the Vatican issued them in sheets of twenty.
Crimando, Thomas. "Restoration of the Sistine Chapel." Vatican Notes 40, no. 1 (July 1991): 1, 3-4.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
April 9, 1991
Object number
1993.2015.420
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 877
Topic
International Stamps & Mail
Record ID
npm_1993.2015.420
Usage
Usage conditions apply
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8c172bd6d-972e-4a6d-baba-2badfc76e42b
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Visit »

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

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