Poste Italiane issues four Leonardo da Vinci stamps for 500th death anniversary

Poste Italiane has issued four commemorative stamps featuring works by Leonardo da Vinci to mark the 500th anniversary of his death in 2019. The stamps depict details from the 'Study of Proportions of the Face and Eye' (Musei Reali – Biblioteca Reale di Torino), 'Adoration of the Magi' (Uffizi), 'Portrait of a Musician' (Pinacoteca Ambrosiana), and 'La Scapiliata' (Galleria Nazionale di Parma). Each stamp costs €1.10, with a total print run of 300,000 sheets (1,200,000 stamps). The 'La Scapiliata' stamp will be officially presented on May 18, 2019, at the opening of the exhibition 'La fortuna della Scapiliata di Leonardo da Vinci' at the Galleria Nazionale di Parma, running until August 12, 2019. Curators Pietro Marani and Simone Verde describe the painting as a unique synthesis of divine complexity. The stamps are available at post offices with philatelic counters, 'Spazio Filatelia' locations in Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, Rome, Rome 1, Turin, Trieste, Venice, Verona, and online at poste.it. This follows a similar initiative by Royal Mail, which issued 12 stamps in February 2019 featuring Leonardo's drawings from the Royal Collection, tied to the 'Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing' exhibition series across the UK.