The Postal Service will issue its latest Christmas Madonna and Child stamp on Friday, Oct. 2.
The design features an image of the Virgin Mary and the Christ child from the collection of the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA. It was painted around the year 1500.
Art historians in the 1920s attributed the work to an unnamed artist known as the “Master of the Embroidered Foliage” because the painted greenery resembles embroidery.
Scholars now believe that the painting was produced in a workshop by several artists and assistants ― as was common practice at the time ― likely in Brussels or in Bruges, in modern-day Belgium.
The artwork depicts a large central figure of Mary in red garments with symbolic background details. A red border surrounds each stamp, highlighting Mary’s clothing.
Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp.
Since 2011, the Postal Service has issued a new Madonna and Child stamp approximately every two years. These stamps usually highlight fine art from the collections of museums in the United States.
The Forever stamp will be available in books of 20 at Post Offices and on usps.com.
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