Holy Year 2020:
Opening the Holy Door

Holy Year 2000: Opening the Holy Door Souvenir Sheet Scott 1136 (1999) In 1999, for the upcoming Holy Year of 2000, Vatican City issued a set of eight stamps, as well as a souvenir sheet, showing the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica. The eight stamps issued individually (Scott 1128-1135) and those on the souvenir sheet (Scott 1136) are identical except for the fact that the stamps on souvenir sheet lack a white border. The Holy Door, or Porta Santa, consists of sixteen bronze relief panels produced at the Artistic Foundry of Florence. The sculptures were modeled by Vico Consorti and cast by Fernando Martinelli. The doors were first installed for the Holy Year of 1950, and were first opened by Pope Pius XII on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1949. That scene is reproduced on the Vatican City stamp (Scott 134) seen here: Pope Pius XII: Opening the Holy Door Scott 135 (1949) The bronze-paneled door replaced one of wood panels that was originally installed in 1748. An earlier Holy Door with sculpted relief panels had been installed in the Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in 1445. The images portrayed on sixteen panels are identified here: Upper Row, Left Door (Scott 1128) and Upper Row, Right Door (Scott 1129): Left to Right: The Angel at the Gates of Paradise The Fall of Mankind Mary, The Annunciation The Angel of the Annunciation (Saint Gabriel) Second Row, Left Door (Scott 1130) and Second Row, Right Door (Scott 1131): Left to Right: Christ’s Baptism at the River Jordan The Lost Sheep The Merciful Father Cure of the Paralytic Third Row, Left Door (Scott 1132) and Third Row, Right Door (Scott 1133): Left to Right: The Woman who was a Sinner The Need for Forgiveness Peter’s Denial The Crucifixion and the Good Thief Bottom Row, Left Door (Scott 1134) and Bottom Row, Right Door (Scott 1135): Left to Right: The Appearance to Thomas Christ’s Appearance to the Eleven Disciples The Conversion of Saul The Opening of the Holy Door by Pope Pius XII Below is a picture of the Holy Door, taken in 2005, showing the entire door and the proclamations above the frame: The Holy Door, Saint Peter's Basilica Photo by Dnalor_01 (used under license) Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 REFERENCE: James C. Hamilton, Vatican Notes, Volume 68, Number 384, pp. 10-18, 2020, The Bronze Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica