Photo: Diego_Baglieri · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Museo internazionale dell'immagine postale

Museum in Belvedere Ostrense on the history of the postal systems of 40 countries, with some 500 designs for ideal stamps.

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About the museum

The Museo internazionale dell’immagine postale was founded in 1989 as a dynamic institution devoted to research, production and the dissemination of information on the world of communications. Its seat in Belvedere Ostrense is linked to the cult of Saint Rufus: his relics were transferred here from Rome in 1808, and the saint, a Roman tabellarius (courier) martyred in 303 during the persecution of Diocletian, is the patron saint of postmen.

The main section gathers testimonies on the postal systems of 40 nations on five continents, with documentation provided by the postal ministries of the countries accredited to the Italian government: from postmen’s uniforms to logos, from postal sacks to means of transport. Of particular importance are the collections on the Italian postal system of the past and those devoted to Malta, the People’s Republic of China, Argentina, the Vatican State, Lithuania and Latvia.

The art section permanently displays some 500 designs for ideal stamps by Italian and foreign painters and graphic artists, together with ten love lyrics by Armando Mazza from 1918, 300 artist postcards from the Mail Art Italia collection and illustrated panels on communication from prehistory to the Roman age by Maria Cristiana Fioretti, the museum’s director. In 1996 Poste Italiane dedicated a commemorative stamp to the museum.

Highlights

Postal systems of 40 nations on five continents
Some 500 designs for ideal stamps
Mail Art Italia collection with 300 artist postcards
Love lyrics by the futurist poet Armando Mazza (1918)
Link with Saint Rufus, patron saint of postmen