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Since 1853,
stamps relating to Columbus were issued by the Government of Chile, but a
long standing mistery was the origin of this Admiral's iconography. In 1988,
a Columbus portrait was discovered in the vaults of Santiago's National
History Museum. Before this rediscovery, many conjectures by philatelists of
Chile's first issues were resolved. This portrait was painted by Alejandro
Cicarelli, an Italian artist, circa 1850, only three years before
the stamps. Until this moment, the design of the original drawing, as well
as the printing, had been attributed to employees of the English firm of
PERKINS, BAKON & Co. The work of Alejandro Cicarelli, restored and
installed in a place of honour in that museum, shows us a likeness of the
discoverer of America very similar to that which appears on Chilean stamp.
That has demolished old theories and introduced a new one suggesting the
original drawing was done in Chile
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About
Cicarelli. 