Correos de Costa Rica, the national post office and sole official issuer of postal stamps, has formally announced the issue of 15,000 special postage stamps that observe and celebrate Pope Francis’ first year in the Holy See. The image of this fine stamp comes from an oil painting by a Costa Rican artist who personally traveled to the Vatican and presented his masterpiece to the Bishop of Rome and leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Numismatics and philatelists are constantly on the lookout for currency and postage issues from Costa Rica. This country has some of the prettiest historical legal tender and postal stamps in the world. This latest issue from Costa Rica is hardly the first or only one commemorating the first year of the current papacy. The Philippines post office and, of course, the Vatican have already issued stamps celebrating the anniversary of Pope Francis, whose pontificate has been marked by humanity, moderation, faith, tolerance, and charisma.

What makes the Pope Francis stamp from Costa Rica very special is the painting that it is based on. Visual artist Juan Manuel Delgado is known for his hyper-realistic work with oil on canvass. His portrait of Pope Francis looks like a print of a high-resolution digital photograph taken with 100 megapixel DSLR equipment, but in fact was patiently and lovingly painted by the artist, who grew up and studied in Canada until 2010. When he returned to Costa Rica, he started focusing on hyper-realism, which he mastered with his portrait of Pope Francis.

Mr. Delgado traveled to the Vatican last October and presented the pontiff his portrait. Pope Francis marveled at the photo-realistic quality of Mr. Delgado’s work, graciously accepted the painting and hugged the painter. In the next few days, the Papal Nuncio is scheduled to travel to the Vatican for the canonization of Pope John Paul II (which Costa Rica played a significant role in); they will take a stamp to be featured along with the original painting -this is of particular interest to philatelists since it will boost the value of the issue.

The Pope Francis stamp can be purchased at any of our post offices for 300 colones, about $0.70, or from the online stamp store of Correos de Costa Rica.