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The fifth centenary of the canonization of Saint Catherine of Siena was commemorated by the issuance, on June 12th, 1962 of the set of three stamps shown above. The design is identical on each of the stamps, and shows St. Catherine praying for the soul of an executed criminal. Source of the design was the painting by Giovanni Antonio de Bazzi Sodoma (1477 - 1549) which hangs in the Church of Saint Dominic in Siena. The painter's name appears on each stamp in the lower right margin. 
 
St. Catherine was born on March 29, 1347, the youngest of twenty-five children, of whom only thirteen survived. She died at the age of 33 after a life of mortification, self-sacrifice and service. Although unable to write, she left nearly 400 dictated letters which have become a treasure of Italian literature. Her most important work was the "Dialogo" (Book of the Divine Doctrine) which she dictated in 1377. She was declared a patron saint of Italy in 1939.

Italy, in 1948, commemorated the sixth centenary of the birth of Saint Catherine by the issuance of a set of 4 and 2 airmail stamps. They were designed by Corrado Mezzana, whose work on Vatican City stamps is well known, and collectors will find in them a suitable complement to the St. Catherine set.

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