The image of Petrarch at his desk is based on a miniature by Francesco di Antonio dell Chierico, from a 15th century manuscript. The stamp was issued in 1974 to mark the 600th anniversary of the death of Petrarch.
     Francesco Petrarch was born in Arezzo, Tuscany in  1304 and died in 1374. He was the first modern poet to develop the lyric sonnet form to a high degree. He is also regarded as the greatest scholar of his time. He rediscovered the lost works of Cicero and Livy in monastic libraries, and was the father of humanism.
     He established a school of copyists in order to have accurate copies of the ancient texts and he pioneered the cursive italic script which was developed by Aldus as Italic at the end of the 15th century. So, while he was not himself a calligrapher he is closely associated with the art.