25 lire Bramante's Design for Dome of St. Peter's single

On February 22, 1972, Vatican City issued three stamps commemorating the architect Donato Bramante.

Donato Bramante was born circa 1444 in Monte Asdrualdo, Italy. He is best known for his plan for the construction of the new Basilica of St. Peter. The new St. Peter's was to enclose the gigantic tomb of Julius II (1443-1513), which Michelangelo was to design and sculpt. However, the condition of the old St. Peter's demanded the immediate construction of a church, and Bramante laid the cornerstone of the first of the four great pillars in 1506. By 1507, all four piers for the pillars were in position. It was planned to take the form of a Greek cross, with alternate plans for a Latin cross floor plan. Bramante saw only the beginning of his plan executed because he died at Rome in 1514. Bramante's work on St. Peter's Basilica was followed by architects Fra Gioconda, Raphael, San Gallo and Peruzzi, and Michelangelo. Michelangelo raised his own dome on the pillars.

There are three stamps in the series:

25-lire - cutaway design for the dome of St. Peter's

90-lire - medallion with portrait of Bramante

130-lire - cutaway of a section of Bramante's spiral staircase for the Belvedere of Pope Innocent VIII

The stamps are forty to a pane in a 1,600,000 series. The stamps have unlimited validity. The stamps are buff color by rotogravure and black printing by engraving.

Reference:

"Donato Bramante." Vatican Notes 20, no. 6 (May-June 1972): 1-2.