SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA, 2010, for the 4th centenary of Ricci's
death, with its FDI cancel,
featuring the 1610 portrait of Ricci, now in the sacristy of the Church of
the Gesù in Rome,
by Emmanuel Pereira (born Yu Wen-hui),
who later became a Jesuit brother.
VATICAN CITY, 2010, on the 4th centenary of Ricci's death, and their FDI cancel
The other person on the € 0.05 postage stamp is the renowned scholar, scientist and court official, Xu Guangqi, disciple and friend of Ricci, and one of the first Chinese Christian converts. The images are taken from Fr. Athanasius Kircher's China Illustrated.
Ricci joined the Jesuits in Rome, where he studied under the famous Christopher Clavius. He set sail for Goa where he was ordained. He immediately made a reputation as a scientist of enormous versatility and a channel of Western learning. He wished to become a channel of the Gospel as well. His vision was to win the intellectual masters of China using learning and its methods as a magnet, and to sow the seeds that would lead to the conversion of China en bloc. Dressing as a scholar, he lectured in the chief administrative and scholastic centers of China and finally in imperial Peking. There he died at the height of his career, his tomb a gift of the Emperor. He remains today the most respected foreigner in Chinese literature.
THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (Taiwan), 1983, the 4th centenary of his arrival
and the reform of the calendar, Scott 2359-60
with its FDI cancel (year 72 of the Republic)
ITALY, 2002, 450th anniversary of Ricci's birth, Scott 2486, with two
FDI cancels
MACAO, 2006, the Society of Jesus issue, Scott 1205, 1209, with its
FDI cancel
With its Society of Jesus issue of 4 stamps and a souvenir sheet containing a fifth, Macao marked many anniversaries and commemorated Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) who became the first superior of the independent Province of China established in 1604. Macao was awarded for this issue the 2007 St. Gabriel Award for the Best Religious Stamps. Ricci's face and body (holding a fan) on the souvenir sheet are modeled on an illustration from Athanasius Kircher's China monumentis illustrata.
