About the Souvenir
Sheets This postal issue has two souvenir sheets. The first presents the image of the National Historical Museum of Rio de Janeiro - MHN, which has the shape of the numeral 100 of the mark of its centenary. In the cutout on the left we have the image of the main façade of the MHN, highlighting the Minerva Gate and on the right the image of the Altar of Oxalá by Emanoel Araújo. The second brings the illustration of the façade of the Palácio dos Correios (Correios Palace) building with its eclectic architecture. A traditional drawing with Indian ink based on photography was made, painted in watercolor and digitally art finished.
Historic Buildings: Correios Palace - SP and National Historical Museum – RJ
The Philately of Correios ends its celebrations of the Bicentennary of Independence with the last issue that highlights two buildings that were inaugurated on the occasion of the festivities of the centenary of independence in 1922: the Palácio dos Correios (Correios Palace) – SP and the Museu Histórico Nacional (National Historical Museum) – RJ. The next few paragraphs tell their stories.
Correios Palace of São Paulo
The Palácio dos Correios de São Paulo (Correios Palace of São Paulo) was inaugurated in 1922, in the context of the celebrations of the centenary of the independence of Brazil. The place chosen for the construction was the confluence of Verdi Square (today Pedro Lessa Square) with São Jõao Avenue. This choice met a demand for occupation of urban spaces on the west riverside of the Anhangabaú River. Already at the turn of the 19th century to the 20th, the hill between the Anhangabaú and Tamanduateí rivers no longer had areas of expansion and real estate interests began to turn to that region, until then undervalued.
The proposed urban model was inspired by that of Paris. Thus, the Ramos de Azevedo office was commissioned to design the new building, which would bring together in a single block the postal and telegraph services, although both were run by different public agencies at that time. Under the command of the architects Domiziano Rossi and Felisberto Ranzini, a building was designed with a great wealth of decorative details, marked by organic forms. Shells, palms, pearls, arabesques and columns of Greek inspiration make up an important part of the external and internal environments of public access.
The high ceilings and the monumentality of the façades are defining elements of the eclectic Palace concept. The façades seek harmony and symmetry. This effect is achieved with the use of odd-numbered openings, which allow the centering of one element and the balanced distribution of the other elements to the right and left. Each of the four levels of the building brings together different decorative elements, especially marked on the windows, revealing the intention to show abundance and diversity. The architectural conception of both the internal and external environments seeks to reinforce the European heritage of Brazil, to the detriment of the manifestations received from other cultures. It is a movement that was aligned with the efforts of the Brazilian state to engage with the most relevant nations in that quadrant of history. Newly born, the Brazilian Republic was still stuck to the standards of imperial traditions, in aesthetic references and in the conduct of international politics.
Finally, the Palácio dos Correios, built between 1920 and 1922, did not rely on noble, sophisticated or exotic materials, but on the refinement of construction professionals, guided by a well-designed project. The inauguration took place in October 1922, just a few days before the end of the presidential term of Epitácio Pessoa, on November 15.
Centro Cultural Correios São Paulo (São Paulo Correios Cultural Center)
National Historical Museum
The National Historical Museum (MHN) was created in 1922, in the city of Rio de Janeiro (when it was still the capital of Brazil), to expose the history of the country that was then one hundred years old. A federal institution linked to the Brazilian Institute of Museums (IBRAM) of the Special Secretariat of Culture of the Ministry of Tourism, it is considered one of the largest and oldest history museums in Brazil. Located in the city center of Rio de Janeiro, it occupies an architectural complex that, between the colonial period and the beginning of the Republic, was used for military activities, consisting of the Casa do Trem (Military Warehouse, 1762) and the Arsenal de Guerra (War Arsenal, 1764)1 . MHN is recognized as a reference for the field of museology and heritage in Brazil. It was there that, in 1932, the first Museum Course in Latin America was created – Current School of Museology of the Federal University of the state of Rio de Janeiro (Unirio). And, in 1934, conceived the first federal department of heritage preservation, the Inspectorate of National Monuments (IMN), extinct in 1937, with the establishment of the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Service, current IPHAN.
Listed by the Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (National Artistic and Historical Heritage Institute, IPHAM), in 2009, inscribed in the historical Tomb book, MHN has more than 300 thousand objects under its custody, they are collections of various typologies, such as painting, furniture, clothing, armory, textual documents, etc. It preserves the largest collection of numismatics in Latin America and one of the most important in the world, totaling 150,286 pieces, distributed among coins, medals, decorations, stamps, etc.
Currently, it has an area of 9,000m2 open to the public, occupied with exhibition halls, library, archives, technical reserves and conservation and restoration laboratory. The history of Brazil represented there is divided into 6 exhibition modules, organized according to thematic and chronological criteria. The Epitácio Pessoa Patio, better known as “dos canhões” (the cannons), due to the collection exhibited there, is the oldest part of the circuit, referring to the first decade of operation of the MHN. “From mobile to automobile: transiting through history” is another exhibition located on the ground floor of the building, dedicated to the collection of land means of transport. “Oreretama”, “Portugueses no mundo” (Portuguese in the world), “Construção do Estado” (Building the State) and “Cidadania em construção” (Citizenship in construction), located on the second floor, constitute a narrative about the history of Brazil, from the original peoples to the current republican period.
National Historical Museum
1 At the time of the creation of the MHN, the architectural ensemble included the Fort St. James (1603), which since 1939 no longer exists.
Technical Details
Stamp issue N. 18
Art: photos of National Historical Museum – MHN/Ibram collection and art-finishing of Jamile Costa Sallum – Correios (MHN) and Lidia Marina Hurovich Neiva - Correios (Correios Palace)
Print system: offset
Paper: gummed chalky paper
2 Souvenir sheets with 1 stamp each
Facial value: R$ 6.50 (each)
Issue: 12,000 souvenir sheets (each)
Design area: Ø 31,4mm (MHN) and 30 x 40 mm (Correios Palace)
Stamp dimensions: Ø 31,4mm (MHN) and 30 x 40mm (Correios Palace)
Souvenir sheet dimensions: 137 x 63mm (MHN) and 137 x 85mm (Correios Palace)
Perforation: 11.5 X 11.5 (MHN) and 12 x 11.5 (Correios Palace)
Date of issue: November 15th, 2022
Places of issue: Rio de Janeiro/RJ (MHN) and São Paulo/SP (Correios Palace)
Printing: Brazilian Mint