This first day cover's hand-painted cachet by Nino Masiello da Ercole depicts a scene from Paradiso 24 in which St. Peter interrogates Dante—accompanied by Beatrice—about the poet's faith. The scene is taken from a miniature by Giovanni di Paolo in Yates Thompson 36, a fifteenth-century manuscript in the British Library. Below the cachet is "Pezzo unico" (unique item) and the artist's signature "Nino Masiello 2009". In the upper left corner of the envelope is the artist's logo.]]> Divina commedia and other works as well as one fresco. Each stamp is printed either horizontally or vertically between two labels: the left label is Raphael's portrait of Dante from the artist's fresco Disputation of the Holy Sacrament in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City and the right label is a quotation from the Divina commedia relevant to the illustration on the stamp. The horizontally printed stamps have "christmas" and "peace" to the left and right of the portrait, respectively, while the vertically printed stamps have "christmas" below the portrait. At the bottom of each stamp are the denomination, air mail designation, and country in English and the denomination and country in Arabic.

Below are listed for each stamp the subject, label quotation, and illustration source (library, manuscript shelfmark, folio number, place of origin, artist, and approximate date of creation). Identification of the illustration sources was kindly provided by Melissa Conway.
  • Michel 887 – The three beasts – Inferno 1:49–51 – Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Italien 2017, f. 10v, Lombardy, Master of the Vitae Imperatorum, ca. 1440
  • Michel 888 – Pope Celestine V – Inferno 3:59–60 – Unidentified; from a manuscript of the Vaticinia de summis pontificibus
  • Michel 889 – Paolo and Francesca – Inferno 5:103–105 – Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, 1076, f. 13v, Lombardy, ca. 1385
  • Michel 890 – Cerberus – Inferno 6:13–15 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 15r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 891 – Dante and Virgil – Inferno 9:127–129 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 22v, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 892 – Farinata degli Uberti – Inferno 10:31–33 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 25r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 893 – Pope Anastasius II – Inferno 11:7–9 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 28r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 894 – Centaurs – Inferno 12:73–75 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Vat. lat. 4776, f. 42v, ca. 1390–1400
  • Michel 895 – Pier della Vigna – Inferno 13:58–61 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 33r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 896 – Brunetto Latini – Inferno 15:31–33 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 38v, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 897 – Swindlers – Inferno 21:43–45 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 54v, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 898 – Caiaphas – Inferno 23:109–111 – Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Italien 74, f. 68r, Florence, Bartolomeo di Fruosino, ca. 1420
  • Michel 899 – Dante and Virgil – Inferno 26:31–33 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 72v, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 900 – Bocca degli Abati – Inferno 32:37–39 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 87r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 901 – Lucifer's Legs – Inferno 34:88–90 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 95v, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 902 – Cato – Purgatorio 1:71–72 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 97r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 903 – Angel – Purgatorio 2:43–45 – Unidentified
  • Michel 904 – Manfred – Purgatorio 3:112–113 – Unidentified; possibly from a manuscript of the Liber ad honorem Augusti
  • Michel 905 – Belacqua – Purgatorio 4:103–105 – London, British Library, Egerton 943, f. 69v, Emilia or Padua, Master of the Antiphonar of Padua, ca. 1325–1350
  • Michel 906 – Sordello – Purgatorio 6:74–75 – London, British Library, Egerton 943, f. 74r, Emilia or Padua, Master of the Antiphonar of Padua, ca. 1325–1350
  • Michel 907 – Nino Visconti – Purgatorio 8:52–54 – London, British Library, Egerton 943, f. 76v, Emilia or Padua, Master of the Antiphonar of Padua, ca. 1325–1350
  • Michel 908 – Angel – Purgatorio 17:55–57 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Urb. lat. 365, f. 145r, Urbino, Guglielmo Giraldi and assistants, ca. 1478
  • Michel 909 – Leah – Purgatorio 27:100–102 – London, British Library, Egerton 943, f. 113r, Emilia or Padua, Master of the Antiphonar of Padua, ca. 1325–1350
  • Michel 910 – Eunoe River – Purgatorio 28:121–123 – Unidentified
  • Michel 911 – Dante and Beatrice – Purgatorio 31:103–104 – London, British Library, Egerton 943, f. 121r, Emilia or Padua, Master of the Antiphonar of Padua, ca. 1325–1350
  • Michel 912 – The order of paradise – Paradiso 1:109–111 – Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Barb. lat. 4112, f. 141r, Tuscany?, 1419
  • Michel 913 – Empyrean – Paradiso 2:112–114 – London, British Library, Yates Thompson 36, f. 132r, Tuscany, Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1450
  • Michel 914 – Justinian – Paradiso 6:10–12 – Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, It. IX, 276 (=6902), f. 56v, Veneto, ca. 1380–1400
  • Michel 915 – Rahab – Paradiso 9:112–116 – Venice, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, It. IX, 276 (=6902), f. 59v, Veneto, ca. 1380–1400
  • Michel 916 – Saint Francis – Paradiso 11:73–75 – Assisi, fresco by Cimabue in the Basilica of Saint Francis, Lower Church, ca. 1280
  • Michel 917 – Cacciaguida – Paradiso 17:58–60 – Padua, Biblioteca del Seminario, MS 67, f. 259v, Padua, early 1400s
  • Michel 918 – Eagle of Souls – Paradiso 19:1–3 – London, British Library, Yates Thompson 36, f. 162r, Tuscany, Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1450
  • Michel 919 – Saturn – Paradiso 21:25–27 – Modena, Biblioteca Estense, α.X.2.14 = Lat. 209, f. 4v, Milan, ca. 1450–1460
  • Michel 920 – Jesus Christ – Paradiso 23:28–30 – London, British Library, Yates Thompson 36, f. 171r, Tuscany, Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1450
  • Michel 921 – Saint Peter – Paradiso 24:34–36 – London, British Library, Yates Thompson 36, f. 172r, Tuscany, Giovanni di Paolo, ca. 1450
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Vitae Imperatorum]]>
Divina commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio, or Paradiso. The fourth stamp shows the Naples Bust of Dante. The subjects are as follows:
  • The 40-lire stamp depicts a scene from Inferno 10 in which Dante and Virgil meet the entombed Florentine heretics Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti. The scene is taken from a miniature in Cod. Urb. lat. 365, a fifteenth-century manuscript in the Vatican Library.
  • The 90-lire stamp depicts a scene from Purgatorio 26–27 in which the angel of chastity points Dante, Virgil, and Statius toward a wall of fire through which they will pass. The scene is taken from a miniature in MS It. IX, 276 (=6902), a fourteenth-century manuscript in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice.
  • The 130-lire stamp depicts a scene from Paradiso 24 in which St. Peter interrogates Dante—accompanied by Beatrice—about the poet's faith. The scene is taken from a miniature by Giovanni di Paolo in Yates Thompson 36, a fifteenth-century manuscript in the British Library.
  • The 500-lire stamp depicts the Naples Bust of Dante.
At the top of each stamp is "1265-DANTE ALIGHIERI-1321" and along the bottom is "POSTE ITALIANE" and the denomination. Along the bottom edge of each stamp is the abbreviated name of the printer: "I.P.S.-OFF.CART.VAL. 1965" (Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte Valori).

This series was deemed "Most Beautiful Stamp of 1965" by readers of the Italian stamp collecting magazine Il Collezionista.1]]>
Dante: Rivista internazionale di studi su Dante Alighieri 10 (2013): 132.]]>