Home
The 2013 Nativity issue is a joint issue with Aland. The issue consists of two stamps based upon frescoes by Renaissance artist Bernardino di Betto Beth (1454-1513), better known as Pinturicchio, a native of Perugia. The year 2013 marks the fifth centenary of Pinturicchio's death. The €0,70 stamp is Pinturicchio's The Nativity and the €0,85 value is The Adoration of the Magi. The original frescoes are located in the Hall of Mysteries of the Borgia Apartments of the Apostolic Palace. The stamps are issued in miniature sheets of eight stamps, with the center Nativity label depicting an angel. UFN also issued a folder including the stamps and two FDCs containing stamps from both Vatican City and Aland. The Aland Islands (Swedish pronunciation o land) are a Swedish-speaking archipelago off Finland consisting of 590 square miles, with a modern-day population of 28,000. The archipelago is strategically situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea. Aland is the largest island in the territory's 6,500 small islands, islets, and rocks, and it is home to 90% of the population. Aland is autonomous and self-governing, with Swedish as the official language. The Aland Islands are a special member state of the European Union, joining the EU along with Finland in 1995. The islands are not militarized. Over 80% of the population is affiliated with the Lutheran Church. Aland has been issuing postage stamps since 1984. 
Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1549 - 1550M Date Issued - 07 November 2013 Face Value - €0,70, €0,85 Perforations - 13-1/4 x 13-3/4 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Joh Enschede (Netherlands) Max Printed - 800,000 Joint Issue - Åland (Swedish speaking part of Finland) |
| (Source: Vatican Notes, Volume 62, Number 359, pp. 4-6, 2014) |
