Espresso on this 1933 Vatican stamp means Express, or what used to be called Special Delivery. Typically, that meant airmail back before plane service was widespread. Hence the aerial view! We like this as it gives us a picture of the whole Vatican.

We had been looking for vintage Catholic building images for our collection but hadn’t found any we liked until we found these. We cropped the perforation because it dominated the picture and made it a print of heavy perforation with a little scene crammed inside.

Ferdinand Schirnbock, one of the Victorian world’s premier stamp engravers, created the 1933 Vatican stamps. He actually died in 1930, three years before their release, with these being his last project. The Italian State Printing Works, Rome, produced the stamps using the recess printing process. They were used until 1947. This work is in the public domain because stamps in Europe go out of copyright 80 years after the death of the artist. We are very careful about copyright.
sources: Smithsonian.org, stampengravers.blogspot.com

– 8.5 x 11" acid-free paper
– Archival pigments, rated to last for generations.
– Cardboard backer
– Above story of the art
– Enclosed in a tight-fitting, crystal clear bag.

** IMPORTANT ** There is about an inch-and-a-third of white space around the picture, so the image is smaller than the paper.

Thanks for your interest!
Sue & John