39c Madonna and Child with Bird stamp

This traditional Christmas stamp, a 39-cent Madonna and Child stamp, was issued on October 17, 2006, in Denver, Colorado. The stamp design by Michael Osborne of Berkeley, California, is based on an oil-on-canvas painting with gold details titled "Madonna and Child with Bird," ca. 1765. The painting is attributed to Ignacio Chacón—an artist active from about 1745 to 1775 in Cuzco, Peru. The painting is now part of the Engracia and Frank Barrows Freyer Collection of Peruvian colonial art at the Denver Art Museum. Michael Osborne slightly cropped the painting's floral "frame" and surrounded the entire composition with a gold border that echoes Chacón's use of gold-leaf embellishments.

Reference:
Postal Bulletin (August 31, 2006).

Scott Catalogue USA: 4100
mint

Artist: Ignacio Chacón

Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.

Museum ID: 2006.2042.245