COVER N. 573 - ITALY

Postmark: Ancona Posta Italiane 03.04.2025

Posted on the 3rd April; Received on the 18th April 2025

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It has been a while since I received a letter from Italy, so I was quite happy to find one in my letterbox. Grazie mille, Giovanni!

Stamps left to right:

750 lire stamp, part of the Christmas 1993 issue, dated of 13NOV1993, comprising two stamps (600 and 750 lire) illustrated with motifs allusive to the Season. In this particular case, the stamp replicates L'Annunciazione, the top part of a  Polyptych - Polittico di Sant’Antonio - by Piero de La Francesca (1415-1492), one of the famous names of the Italian renaissance, which can be seen at the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria, in Perugia.

Antiche Genti d'iTalia (ancient peoples of Italy) was the name of an exhibition held in Rimini in Sala dell'Arengo and Palazzo del Podestà, from the 20 March to the 28 August 1994. For the occasion, Poste Italiene issued on 06May1994 the 750 lire stamp on the cover.

The only existing roman gilt bronze sculptures are those of  Cartoceto di Pergola, which comprised at least two people on horseback and two standing women, although today only one man on horseback and a standing woman subsist, as well as the lower part of the second woman and the second horse.

On 04JUN1988, Poste Italiane issued two stamps dedicated to these sculptures, with face values of 500 and 650 Lire. The 500 l stamp, on the cover, bears the image of the head of one of the horses, while the companion stamp on the set is illustrated with the face of the surviving woman.

500 Lire stamp, part of a set of three (30;70 and 500 Lire), issued on 15OCT1964, on the occasion of the  7° Stati Generali dei Comuni per l'Europa  (7th States General of the Municipalities for the Europe of the Peoples). I cannot find any information on  this particular organisation, but I suppose that it must have subsumed into one of the current EU structures...