On September 29, 1981, Vatican City issued two stamps commemorating the sixth centenary of the death of Jan Van Ruusbroec (1293 - 1381), a Flemish mystic.
The 200-lire value depicts Van Ruusbroec in his hermitage writing his treatise on the mystical life. The 300-lire value shows a portrait of Van Ruusbroec. B. JAN VAN RUUSBROEC appears along the upper margin of each stamp. Along the stamp's lower margin appears "1381-1981." POSTE VATICANE appears below the dates. The value is indicated in the right margin.
Francesco Tulli engraved the sketches. The stamps are vertical, measure 30 x 40 mm with 13 1/4 x 14 perforations, and were issued in sheets of forty. The Polygraphic Institute and Mint of the Italian State produced the stamps on white chalky paper in multicolor printing, using both recess and offset. The complete series was 1,100,000.
Wickert, Sr., William M. "Blessed Jan." Vatican Notes 30, no. 3 (November - December 1981): 1.
