The Sistine Chapel Ceiling And Lunettes mural was originally painted 500 years ago. Michelangelo's fresco masterpiece was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV and took four years to complete. The center panels of the Sistine ceiling depict nice scenes from the Book of Genesis. They are surrounded by crescent-shaped areas, or lunettes, with tablets listing ancestors of Christ and accompanying figures.
Michelangelo painted the Forefathers of Christ listed at the beginning of the Gospel of St Matthew (Matthew 1: 1-17), which, starting from Abraham, gives the names of forty forefathers of Christ, shown here not so much as historical images but as symbolic figurations of mankind caught in various attitudes and above all in its formation into family units.
Numerous attempts to link the names written on the labels to the personages shown have not permitted them to be identified with any certainty.
This collectible set of twelve Vatican City postage stamps was issued to honor the restoration of the Sistine Chapel. Images depicted on the stamps show details from "Lunettes of the Ancestors of Christ" by Michelangelo.
Issue date: April 9, 1991
Size of each stamp: 34 x 29 mm
Colors: Multicolor
Emission: Definitive
Perforation: 11¼
Printing: Photogravure
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