Sovereign Military Hospitaller
Order of St John of Jerusalem of
Rhodes and of Malta

St. John the Baptist, Patron of the Order

On sale Yes
Face value Sheet 7,00 €
Stamp description

The sheet depicts the painting ‘Baptism of Jesus’, oil on canvas by an unknown artist, dated 1782 and kept in the rectory church of San Giovanni Battista in Chiaramonte Gulfi (Ragusa), formerly the commendal church of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The canvas, inspired by the works of Caravaggio, was commissioned in Malta by Commendatore Fra’ Giovanni Battista Tomasi, future Grand Master of the Order, who donated it to the church. The two stamps inside the picture outline, respectively, the depiction of God and the scene of the Baptism of Jesus. Both stamps bear the inscriptions “SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA” and “POSTE MAGISTRALI”, the coat of arms of the Order’s activities and the face value “€ 3.50”. At the top, centred and on two lines, is the header “SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA POSTE MAGISTRALI” flanked, on the left and right respectively, by the Order’s coat of arms and the coat of arms of the activities. At the bottom, off-centre to the left, is the inscription on two lines “BATTESIMO DI GESÙ, OLIO SU TELA DI AUTORE IGNOTO, 1782 CHIESA DI SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA IN CHIARAMONTE GULFI”.

Date of issue 23 June 2023.
Face values € 3,50 for each of the two stamps.
Size 40 x 30 mm and 40 x 52 mm.
Perforation 13 x 13 ¼ and 13.
Souvenir sheet size 90 x 150 mm.
Print run three thousand numbered sheets.
Printed by Cartor Security Printers, La Loupe, France, in offset