Here are the best Philatelic greetings to visitors from all over the
world who daily visit my blog.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Welcome the 25000th Visitors
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
The word and the Image
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| Set of stamps |
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| Souvenir sheet I |
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| Souvenir sheet II |
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| First Day Cover with stamps |
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| First Day Covers with souvenir sheets |
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| Brochure |
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| Stamps book |
The two words that embody this idea are astounding: Word and Image. For
the societies that have inherited age-old Mediterranean cultures, the concept
of Sacred Text comprises the actual idea of Religion, Theology and Piety. We
talk of "Religions of the Book" as if the book was the essence of
those movements. And, in reality, it is.
The scared places of each tradition are important; the founders, the
prophets and the disseminators of each religion are also fundamental; but the
Sacred Texts are the basis of the doctrine, the rites, the norms, the social
organisation, the way of seeing and behaving in the world.
At its origin, almost as ancient as Judaism, we have the Torah, the
Pentateuch in the Christian Greek language, which gives shape to the actual
identity of the Chosen People. More than Religion, the Scared Text was - and is
- the identity of a collective that sees itself in the determinations, in the
Alliances, in the "exoduses" and in the "exiles".
Also nearly as old as Christianity, the beginning of the systematisation
of the Christian canon is the image of centrality inherited from Judaism, when
one looks in the dynamics between texts and communities for the organisation,
the systematisation of the doctrine, or even the creation of bonds and
solidarity among groups.
Despite being profoundly Christian and Catholic, the iconography
presented here is the road to an important means of spirituality. The
relationship between the Scared Text and the images is a feature that is almost
ecumenical, a dimension that is greater than each of the religions or
traditions, which takes shape here in the particular case of the Portuguese
pictographic heritage. The "Word through the Image" is the
acknowledgement of this heritage that shapes the vast identity that is us, in
the broadest and most uniform culture of Southern Europe, of the
Mediterranean.
For millennia, in this basin where civilisations intermingled, and where
gods, beliefs and meanings were exchanged, the images and the words were
combined over time, becoming symbiotic aspects of the same imagery,
complementing the doctrine and the rites.
Today, it is impossible to understand our past, and even our way of
seeing the world, without experiencing the meaning of an Ecce Homo placed in
the shadows of a church, illuminated only by the flickering light of a handful
of candles. How much we have of fears and hopes in the gaze of millions of
beings like us who contemplated, century upon century, powerful images like
this one.
This Word and these images are us, in our ancient and unique culture, in
our anthropology and worldview. Whether we are believers or not. Whether we are
"practising" or not, our heritage has been constructed for two
millennia according to this articulation between texts that is deemed scared
and its representations that accompanied moments of worship, of introspection,
of prayer, of rejoicing or of despair.
The Word and the Image are part of a genetic code that gives shape to a
part of Europe, that runs in the veins of the most dilapidated and revealing
bodies of the millennium-old culture that we inherited.
Technical Details
Date of Issue: 22 February 2012
Values: Stamps of €0,47; €0,68; €0,80 and €1,00 + two miniature sheets stamps
of €1,50
Designer:
Printer:
Process:
Size:
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper:
Watermark:
Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Major Characters of Portuguese Culture
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| Set of stamps |
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| First Day Cover with stamps |
Journalist by calling and politician by conviction, Manuel de Brito Camacho,
minister for public works of the provisional government of the 1st Republic,
was born in Monte de Mesas, on 12 February 1862, and went to high school in
Beja, before enrolling in a Medicine course, at the Escola Médico-Cirúrgica, in
Lisbon.
In 1885 he began attending the Republican Party congresses and in 1906 he founded the A Lucta periodical, the first propaganda tool of the Republic. His sharp and incisive pen, which places public wellbeing above the private and does not shy away from party interests, creates some enemies, on the left and the right of the political spectrum.
His tenacity, his rigour and an immaculate political patriotism, however, make him a tutelary figure of the Republican Union Party, which he establishes in 1911.
Between the years of 1921 and 1923 he takes on the role of High Commissioner of the Republic, in Mozambique. In this capacity he is responsible for important reforms in the education and health systems of the former colony.
Once he retired from political life, Brito Camacho celebrates his homeland in part of the literary work which fills the last years of his life. He died in Lisbon, on 19 September 1934.
Marcos Portugal (1762 – 1830)
The most prolific and international of Portuguese composers, Marcos Portugal, was born in Lisbon, in 1762.
At the service of Queen D. Maria I and King D. João VI, he creates sacred works for the royal chapels’ festivities.
However, it is for writing comic operas – opera “buffa” – that his name gains international recognition. Marcos Portugal moves to Italy, in 1792, where he premiers more than 20 operas, some of which guaranteed his success in key European cities.
Upon his return to Portugal in 1800, he becomes master of the Seminário da Patriarcal and maestro of the Real Teatro de S. Carlos, where he composes some “serious” operas performed, for the most part, by Angelica Catalani.
Following the court’s departure for Brazil, Marcos Portugal moves to Rio de Janeiro, in 1811, taking on the responsibilities of master of His Royal Highnesses. In 1820 he was awarded the Comenda da Ordem de Cristo. When the Portuguese court returns, he does not follow but remains at the service of his pupil, the Emperor D. Pedro I of Brazil. He died in 1830, in Rio de Janeiro. He is the author of Brazil’s Independence Anthem.
António Vilar (1912 – 1995)
The man who lent his face to some of the most emblematic characters of the Portuguese literary and cultural pantheon – from the ruthless D. Pedro to the worldly Camões – was born on 13 October 1912, in Lisbon. Before making a name for himself in front of the cameras, he was a radio singer, reporter for O Século, bank clerk and assistant director.
Despite small cinema roles, his real debut came with the film Feitiço do Império, in a performance that did not go unnoticed. Two years later, António Vilar played his first leading role, as Carlos Bonito, in the unmissable O Pátio das Cantigas.
From strength to strength, Vilar consolidates his career with an increasingly enthusiastic reception from the critics. The roles of Pedro, the Cruel, in Inês de Castro, and of Camões, in the homonymous film by Leitão de Barros that premiered in 1946, opened up a world of opportunities.
In the following years, António Vilar worked in Argentina, Italy, Brazil, the United States of America, France and Spain, where he settled down at the end of the 1940s and where he starred in around 40 films.
Plentifully blessed, the actor dedicates his last years to the dream of producing a film about Ferdinand Magellan, funded with his own money. Even though the dream of bringing the explorer’s achievements to the big screen did not come true, we are left with a replica of a ship that was donated, upon his death, to the collection of the National Commission of the Portuguese Discoveries.
In 1885 he began attending the Republican Party congresses and in 1906 he founded the A Lucta periodical, the first propaganda tool of the Republic. His sharp and incisive pen, which places public wellbeing above the private and does not shy away from party interests, creates some enemies, on the left and the right of the political spectrum.
His tenacity, his rigour and an immaculate political patriotism, however, make him a tutelary figure of the Republican Union Party, which he establishes in 1911.
Between the years of 1921 and 1923 he takes on the role of High Commissioner of the Republic, in Mozambique. In this capacity he is responsible for important reforms in the education and health systems of the former colony.
Once he retired from political life, Brito Camacho celebrates his homeland in part of the literary work which fills the last years of his life. He died in Lisbon, on 19 September 1934.
Marcos Portugal (1762 – 1830)
The most prolific and international of Portuguese composers, Marcos Portugal, was born in Lisbon, in 1762.
At the service of Queen D. Maria I and King D. João VI, he creates sacred works for the royal chapels’ festivities.
However, it is for writing comic operas – opera “buffa” – that his name gains international recognition. Marcos Portugal moves to Italy, in 1792, where he premiers more than 20 operas, some of which guaranteed his success in key European cities.
Upon his return to Portugal in 1800, he becomes master of the Seminário da Patriarcal and maestro of the Real Teatro de S. Carlos, where he composes some “serious” operas performed, for the most part, by Angelica Catalani.
Following the court’s departure for Brazil, Marcos Portugal moves to Rio de Janeiro, in 1811, taking on the responsibilities of master of His Royal Highnesses. In 1820 he was awarded the Comenda da Ordem de Cristo. When the Portuguese court returns, he does not follow but remains at the service of his pupil, the Emperor D. Pedro I of Brazil. He died in 1830, in Rio de Janeiro. He is the author of Brazil’s Independence Anthem.
António Vilar (1912 – 1995)
The man who lent his face to some of the most emblematic characters of the Portuguese literary and cultural pantheon – from the ruthless D. Pedro to the worldly Camões – was born on 13 October 1912, in Lisbon. Before making a name for himself in front of the cameras, he was a radio singer, reporter for O Século, bank clerk and assistant director.
Despite small cinema roles, his real debut came with the film Feitiço do Império, in a performance that did not go unnoticed. Two years later, António Vilar played his first leading role, as Carlos Bonito, in the unmissable O Pátio das Cantigas.
From strength to strength, Vilar consolidates his career with an increasingly enthusiastic reception from the critics. The roles of Pedro, the Cruel, in Inês de Castro, and of Camões, in the homonymous film by Leitão de Barros that premiered in 1946, opened up a world of opportunities.
In the following years, António Vilar worked in Argentina, Italy, Brazil, the United States of America, France and Spain, where he settled down at the end of the 1940s and where he starred in around 40 films.
Plentifully blessed, the actor dedicates his last years to the dream of producing a film about Ferdinand Magellan, funded with his own money. Even though the dream of bringing the explorer’s achievements to the big screen did not come true, we are left with a replica of a ship that was donated, upon his death, to the collection of the National Commission of the Portuguese Discoveries.
Technical Details
Date of Issue: 13 February 2012
Values: Stamps of €0,32; €0,68; €0,80
Designer: Sofia Martins
Printer: Joh. Enschedé
Process: Offset
Size: 30,6 x 40 mm
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper:
Watermark:
Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Academia Militar - 175 Years
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| Set of stamps |
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| Souvenir sheet |
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| FDC with set of stamps |
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| FDC with souvenir sheet |
The Escola do Exército was created
on 12 January 1837 by marquis Sá da Bandeira, being the most distinguished
predecessor of the current Academia Militar. After the Restoration, King João
IV created the Lição de Artilharia e Esquadria, in 1641, which can be
considered the first school aimed at training higher military personnel. It was followed by the Aula de
Fortificação e Arquitectura Militar, the Academia Militar da Corte, the
Academia Real de Marinha and the Real Colégio dos Nobres. In 1790, Queen
Maria I, created the Academia Real de Fortificação, Artilharia e Desenho,
considered as the “first truly scientific school aimed at higher education in
subject matters of interest to officers of the Portuguese army”.
In 1837, in an atmosphere of great political unrest and instability, marquis Sá da Bandeira (who was a former student of the Academia Real), created the Escola do Exército, as part of a vast and profound reform of the Portuguese Higher Education. The teaching method was compared to the method of
the Universidade Portuguesa and its teachers enjoyed the same honours and categories. The Escola do Exército, initially set up in the Real Colégio dos Nobres, was later transferred to another location in Lisbon and took up its current premises at Paço da Rainha (or Bemposta) in 1851.
After having undergone successive restructurings (Escola do Exército 1837-1910, Escola de Guerra 1911-
-1919, Escola Militar 1919-1938 and again Escola do Exército 1938-1959), the Academia Militar was created on 12 February 1959 with the aim of preparing Army and Air Force officers and, since then, its courses have, “for general purposes, been of the same standing as other higher education courses”. The law creating the Academia Militar refers the 12 of January as the “anniversary of the establishment of the Escola do Exército”, that will celebrate its 175th anniversary in 2012. With headquarters in Lisbon and a detachment in Amadora, it is the Academia Militar’s mission, as a public military university/higher education institution to train the Army’s and the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR)’s core staff.
The Academia Militar, it provides
the future officers with the competences necessary for the missions carried out
by the Army and by the GNR, furthering individual development for the
performance of command and management duties. In harmony with the Bologna
process, the Academia Militar awards its officers a master degree, thus
promoting the Escola do Exército, that over the last 175 years has had several
of its students occupying high State positions – seven became Presidents of the
Portuguese Republic – particularly in operations in the African Campaigns, in
World War I, in the Overseas Campaigns and more recently in as varied
operational theatres as Bosnia, Kosovo, Angola, Mozambique, Somalia, Timor,
Iraq and Afghanistan.
With this philatelic issue, the CTT
joins in the celebration of the 175th anniversary of the Escola do Exército,
thus acknowledging the Army (Airforce up to 1982 and since 1991 the GNR)
officers headquarters’ indispensable contribution to the training of leaders
who, with the feather and the sword, so expertly have built and advanced
Portugal in the concert of Nations.
Academia Militar
Technical Details
Date of Issue: 12 January 2012
Values: Stamps of €0,32; €0,68 and a souvenir sheet with one stamp of
€2,50
Designer:
Printer:
Process: Offset
Size:
Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper:
Watermark:
Sheet: sheets of 50 stamps
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