The stamp, which is valid for ordinary mail, shows the two 5th century B.C statues found on the seabed near the Calabrian town of Riace by the young Roman chemist Stefano Mariottini.
The statues were doscovered during an underwater fishing trip and are now on public display in the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria.
The exceedingly rare bronzes stand two metres tall and are an exceptionally realistic rendering of warriors or gods.
“After an initial cleaning operation at the National Museum of Reggio Calabria, the Bronzes were transferred to Florence in January 1975 to undergo a restoration that lasted five years,” said museum director Carmelo Malacrino in the leaflet accompanying the postage stamp.
Malacrino went on to explain that they were exhibited for the first time at the Archaeological Museum in Florence in December 1980 and then again at the Quirinale palace in Rome on the request of then President Sandro Pertini before they returned to Calabria.
They have since undergone a second restoration and have become the territory’s main cultural attraction as well as a symbol of Magna Grecia (Greater Greece), Calabria and the Mediterranean.
“Today the two statues are on display in a special room equipped with sophisticated microclimatic control systems and a double room filter access system supported by seismic bases,” concludes the leaflet.
ANSA
