Friday, December 12, 2008

Stamp Art

Behold!

A virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.


Isaiah 7:14









The 2008 Christmas stamp features a detail from a work by the Italian master Sandro Botticelli, entitled Virgin and Child with the Young John the Baptist. This painting, tempera and oil on wood, dates to around 1490 and is now in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. It presents one of the most common figural groups in religious art. (usps.com)


I like stamps. But I dont have a collection per se. I just like to buy and use different ones. Does that make me a philatelist?

Philately is the study of postage stamps, revenue stamps, stamped envelopes, postmarks, postal cards, covers, and similar material relating to postal or fiscal history.

Probably not.

Dilettant?

Most definitely.

At any rate, this beautiful stamp is the one which will frank the envelope of the good tidings I'm mailing early next week.

Do you send Christmas cards?

Or a letter?

Once on a holiday tour of homes, I saw an attractive arrangement of framed Christmas cards in the foyer. Of course, they were the ones sent by the homeowner, not like a Hallmark museum exhibit.

So, I'm saving mine.

3 comments:

  1. Umm. I *plan* to send cards. I planned to do it last year, too, but didn't so I still have the boxes of cards from last year. I did buy 4 books of stamps this year and hopefully that will spur me on to actually do it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So, Laura, did you buy the Nutcrackers of the Madonna/Child stamps?

    ReplyDelete