1833 Pope Gregory XVI Supplica with Note

Updated September 22, 2026

Original manuscript on laid paper, consisting of a formal supplication addressed directly to His Holiness Pope Gregory XVI, dated December 16, 1833, drafted by the priest Luigi Vincenti, vice parish priest of the Perinsigne Collegiate Church of Saints Celso and Giuliano. The text presents an official request for an ecclesiastical benefit or pension, motivated by more than ten years of service carried out with grave harm to health and in the absence of personal means. The supplication is framed according to the nineteenth-century curial rhetoric, with ritual prostration before the Pontiff and reference to the Holy Christmas feasts, typical of petitions destined for the central offices of the Roman Curia. The input provided contains no content to translate. Pontifical autograph note On the back of the sheet, the heading is clearly legible: To the Holiness of Our Lord Pope Gregory XVI Happily Reigning Followed by the Pope's autograph note, written in his own hand: 16 Dec. 1833 - To the Cardinal Pro-Datary The orthography is fully compatible with Gregorio XVI's handwritten annotations, and it documents that the supplica was indeed read by the Pope and referred to the competent office (Cardinal Pro-Datary), responsible for ecclesiastical benefices and pensions. It is therefore not a mere letter, but a curial act with the Pope's direct, handwritten involvement. Paper and watermark (premium element) The document is drafted on watermarked Fabriano paper bearing a large, full-page commemorative figurative watermark, depicting the portrait of Pietro Miliani, founder of the famous Fabriano Paper Mills (1817), within a beaded oval frame with a legible name. On the other sheet there is the watermark "Fabriano 1820," perfectly consistent with a commemorative posthumous production intended for representation purposes and highlevel official documentation. This Miliani figurative watermark, large in size, was reserved for high-quality papers used for institutional, administrative, and curial acts in the Papal States. Historical and collecting significance The document brings together three elements of great interest: Original supplication addressed to the reigning Pope Autograph note by Gregory XVI, certifying the acceptance of the petition. Miliani paper by Fabriano with a figurative commemorative watermark of superior quality. This combination places the piece well above ordinary ecclesiastical documentation, making it of great interest for: papal autograph collectors scholars of the Roman Curia and the Papal States Conservation Overall good condition, with normal signs of use and light traces of age consistent with the period; inscriptions perfectly legible; the watermark exceptionally well visible. There is a light pencil circle indicating a later date on the papal note, of archival or collectible origin.

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