The Vatican issued two stamps on April 23, 1981, to commemorate the second millennium since the poet Virgil's death.
Publius Vergilius Maro was born in 79 B.C.E. in the Roman province of Gaul. He died in 19 B.C.E. at Brundisium and was buried at Naples. Vergil was sent to school at Cremona and later Milan. When he was 17, he continued his education at Rome, where he met the emperor Augustus and many other Roman nobles. Even among his contemporaries, Vergil was recognized as the greatest of the Latin poets. History remembers him for three works: "Ecologues," "Georgics," and "The Aeneid."
The value and "POSTE VATICANE" appear at the bottom of each stamp. "P. VERGILI MARONIS BUCOLICON GEORGICONO. LIBRI" appears in the upper left corner of the 350-lire stamp. "P. VERGILI MARONIS AENEIDOS LIBRI" is in the upper right corner of the 600-lire stamp. Both stamps feature an image of a writer's easel and a seated portrait of Virgil taken from "Vergilius Romanus," held in the Vatican Library since its founding in 1475. "BIMILLENARIO VIRGILIANO" was printed by hot foil process on the right of both stamps; it is printed in silver on the 350-lire stamp and in gold on the 600-lire stamp.
Valerio Puliti engraved the plates. The stamps are horizontal and measure 48 x 40 mm with a perforation of 14. They were issued in sheets of sixteen, with nine labels featuring a pastoral scene. The Polygraphic Institute and Mint of the Italian State printed the stamps on white chalky paper in multicolor printing in offset by hot foil with gold and silver. The complete series totaled 1,000,000.
References:
Wickert, William M. "Virgil Honored." Vatican Notes 30, no. 1 (July-August 1981): 2, 4.
