Vatican - 1949 - Celebrate Holy Year 1950 - Set of 8 Unused Hinged stamps

On December 24, 1949, Vatican City issued a set of eight stamps in commemoration of the Holy Year of 1950. The set consists of four different designs, each repeated on two stamps. Holy Years occur every twenty-five or fifty years and are considered times of jubilee and pardon for sins. In Rome, pilgrims visit designated basilicas, such as those depicted on the 6- and 25-lire stamps included with this issue.

The 5-lire (brown and red-brown) and 20-lire (red-brown and blue-green) stamps are based upon the painting, 'Christ Giving the Keys of Heaven to St. Peter' (completed 1481-1482) by Pietro Perugino (1450-1523), an artist from Umbria whose pupil was Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520). The painting is located in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican and is sometimes entitled 'The Charge to Peter.'

The stamps are inscribed 'Poste Vaticane' and 'Anno Santo MCML' (Holy Year, 1950). The postal value is located either at the top left or top right of the stamp. The stamps are perforated 14 x 14 and measure 3 cm x 4 cm. Each carries the winged wheel watermark.

Corrado Mezzana designed the 6-, 8-, 25-, and 30-lire stamps. N. Ena designed the 10- and 60-lire values. A total of 550,000 stamps were printed by photogravure at the Italian State Printers in Rome.