Vatican City Organ Stamps 2014: Part One

This post features the first of two articles about the Vatican City organ stamps from 2014. Check out part two here. You can learn more about the topic of organ postage stamps at the blog Pipe Organs of the World On Postage Stamps.

The Greek scientist Ctesibius was the inventor of an instrument that used the pressure from water to push air through pipes. The hydraulis was the earliest form of an organ and the first keyboard instrument. The instrument was used by the musicians in the Roman Empire for entertainment in their large arenas.

Over time, bellows replaced the water pump to power the wind supply into the pipes. A small pipe organ was first installed in Charlemagne’s chapel in Aachen in 1812, which may be the beginning of the association of the instrument with the catholic church. The instrument grew alongside the massive Christian churches and cathedrals of Europe, the glorious sound of the instrument matching the majesty of the architecture.

The Stamp

Given the association between the pipe organ and the Christian Church, it makes enormous sense that the instrument would appear on postage stamps from the small country of the Vatican City. The lowest denomination stamp is the .70 Euro stamp. It features a photograph of the pipework of the main organ (there are four) in the Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.

The stamps are part of that year’s “Europa Series.” The best explanation of Europa stamps that I can find is the following:

“The EUROPA issue (also known as Europa – CEPT until 1992) is an annual joint issue of stamps with a common design or theme by postal administrations member of the European Communities (1956-1959), the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT from 1960 to 1992), then the PostEurop Association since 1993.” Learn more at this blog.

The Europa theme for 2014 was national musical instruments. Keep a look out as I am sure I will share more of these in the future!

The Church

The Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran, sometimes known as the Lateran Basilica, is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome and the seat of the pope. It is also the oldest public church in Rome and the oldest basilica in the western world. Pope Sylvester I dedicated the church and the associated Lateran Palace in 324. The church was the victim of several fires, including two fourteenth century first in 1308 and 1361 that destroyed most of the building and its interiors. Sixtus V (1685-1690) made made great efforts to reconstruct the church during his tenure. Then in the eighteenth century, Clement XII also made aggressive interventions that included the construction of the facade. You can take a virtual tour of the church on this fantastic website from the Vatican.

The Pipe Organ

Pope Clement VIII commissioned an organ for the Lateran Church in 1597 in honor of the upcoming Jubilee. The organ builder Luca Biagi (1548-1608) won the commission and the instrument gave its inaugural concert in 1599. The case design is by Gioacomo della Porta (1532-1602) and was built by Giovanni Battista Montano (1543-1621). The organ is the oldest in Rome that is still functional, although it has been significantly altered during its long life.

The original instrument had two keyboards and a pedal board and this was the original stop list.

Girolamo Frescobaldi played the organ in its original form by Biagi. After a minor restoration and some additions, George Frederick Handel played the instrument in 1707. Beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century, the organ was subjected to increasingly intrusive alterations, improvements, and additions. From the 1930s until the 1980s, the instrument sat silent. At that time, the organ builder Barthélemy Formentelli was selected to renovate the insturments. His work returned it to a nineteenth century state.