On September 9, 1585 Armand Jean du Plessis, known in the history books as Cardinal Richelieu, was born.

Although the young Armand Jean du Plessis did not originally want to have a career in the Church, he did have a thirst for power and saw religious positions as a way of achieving that goal. King Henri III of France and Poland rewarded Richelieu’s father for his military service by granting the family the bishopric of Luçon. In 1606, King Henri IV named Richelieu the Bishop of Luçon, a position he was too young for. As a result, he sought a special dispensation from the Pope in Rome, and became Bishop in 1607. 
Cardinal de Richelieu · L’Homme Rouge: Cardinal Richelieu and the Control of Print Culture in France during the Ancien Régime · Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (CRRS) Rare Book Collection (utoronto.ca) This is an excellent, and entertaining thumbnail sketch of Richelieu’s life as a French statesman and the power he wielded. 

Two Richelieu stamps have been issued by the French post office. The first is from their 1935 Famous People series 2. It’s a classic example of early French design and engraving by Achlile Ouvré.  

 
Armand Jean du Plessis Cardinal de Richelieu (1585-1642)
Famous People series II
Released by France 1935
Designer and engraver Achlile Ouvré

The second stamp was released in 1974 and featured Richelieu in all his finery, The designer used a portrait of Richelieu by Philippe de Champaigne,  a founding member of the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture and a leading artist in France at the time. He produced an entire series of members of the French court as well as leading society members. The portrait is owned by National Museum in Warsaw.

This stamp shows a distinct 1970s style of printing, with the colours not as clean and bold as they are now. It used a technique called recess printing. You can read more about the 4 main printing techniques here The Four Main Printing Processes of Postage Stamps (empirephilatelists.com). The stamp doesn’t do justice to the original painting, with all its brilliant, intense colours used by de Champaigne to bring Cardinal de Richelieu to life. The recess printing created a hallow effect around Richelieu’s head and the right side of his robes. 

 

Cardinal de Richelieu (1602-1674). By Philippe de Champaigne
 Released in 1974
Designer Robert Cami