USPS Holiday Stamp Features the Clark's 'Virgin and Child Enthroned'
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| Master of the Embroidered Foliage, The Virgin and Child Enthroned, c. 1500, oil on panel. The Clark, gift of the Executors of Governor Lehmans Estate and the Edith and Herbert Lehman Foundation, 1968.299 |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Postal Service released a new holiday stamp featuring a depiction of the Madonna and Child from a 16th-century painting in the Clark Art's collection, Virgin and Child Enthroned by the Master of the Embroidered Foliage.
"We are delighted that this great work — an exquisite depiction of mother and child painted more than 500 years ago — will be seen by so many when they send or receive holiday greetings this year. We are truly honored that the USPS selected our beautiful painting for 2026, and we hope it brings a little peace and joy with every envelope and parcel," said Esther Bell, Hardymon Director of the Clark Art Institute.
The stamp continues the service's decades-long holiday tradition of featuring Madonna and Child images on special seasonal stamps, which have been issued every year from 1966 until 2009. The Postal Service printed 185 million of the stamps to be issued in booklets of twenty. As Forever stamps, they will always be equal in value to the current cost of postage for one-ounce First-Class Mail items.
"This painting caught my eye because of the beautiful red folds in the Madonna's dress and the unusual background," said Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS. "I also love the ornate patterns behind Mary's head, and the figures and symbols in the background intrigue me. There is more detailed background and context than we sometimes see in Madonna and Child paintings, and I find it unusually interesting and beautiful."
Tags: Clark Art,
