25c Raphael Sanzio single

On November 21, 1944, Vatican City issued a set of four stamps recognizing the fourth centenary of the Pontifical Academy and Letters of the Virtuosi of the Pantheon. The set includes 25-centessimi (olive and deep green), 80-cent (violet and red-lilac), 1.25-lire (blue and deep violet), and 10-lire (bistre and brownish yellow) values.

The set recognizes four distinguished artists, architects, and sculptors from the late fifteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. The 25-cent value includes a self-portrait by Raphael Sanzio (artist, 1483-1520).

The Pontifical Academy of Fine Arts and Letters was founded in 1542-1543, during the pontificate of Pope Paul III (1534-1549). It recognized achievement of persons from the arts -- painting, sculpture, and architecture -- as well as letters and music. The academy's historical home is at the Pantheon in Rome, a structure initially erected in 27 AD, but it took its current form under the Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD). The Pantheon was designated as a Christian Church, St. Mary and Martyrs, in 609. The academy was declared "Pontifical" in 1861. Today the academy sponsors exhibits and concerts.

Each stamp is inscribed POSTE VATICANE at the top. The issue's value appears at the bottom. The vignette contains the individual's dates and the dates of the academy's existence, 1543-1943. A laurel wreath surrounds each vignette with the Latin inscription FLORENT IN DOMO DOMINI (They Flourish in the House of the Lord) and the Italian inscription QVARTO CENTENARIO DELLA PONTIFICA INSIGNE ACADEMIA DEL VIRTVOSI AL PANTHEON (Fourth Centenary of the Pontifical Academy of Distinguished Virtuosi of the Pantheon).

Artist Corrado Mezzana designed this set. Each stamp measure 3 x 4 cm and is perforated 14 x 14, with a Crossed Keys of St. Peter watermark. Stadterini Roma printed 414,050 sets by photogravure. The Vatican withdrew the stamps from sale on June 30, 1945.

References:

"Vatikanstatt" in Michel Europa-Katalog, volume 3, Sudeuropa, Unterschleissheim, Germany: Schwaneberger Verlag GMBH, 2008.

"Vatican City," in Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue, Part 8: Italy and Switzerland, 7th Edition, Hampshire, England: Stanley Gibbons Ltd, 2010.

"Academies, Pontifical," in Encyclopedia of the Popes and the Papacy, New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 2001, p. 156.