THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 2, 1996 TAG: 9611020311
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: 35 lines
The U.S. Postal Service on Friday unveiled the 1996 Christmas stamp - an image of the Madonna and Child from an oil painting on display at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.
It is the first U.S. postage stamp adapted from a Virginia Museum painting. It be sold Saturday at area post offices and at the museum before going on sale elsewhere.
The stamp is a detail from the museum's larger 1712 pointing, ``The Adoration of the Shepherds,'' by Italian artist Paolo de Matteis. Philip B. Meggs, professor of communication arts and design at Virginia Commonwealth University, recommended the painting.
Meggs is a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, a group of 15 artists, historians and others that recommends subjects for postage stamps to the postmaster general.
``I had always admired the light and color of this painting at the museum . emotion than many paintings of the Madonna and Child. They're usually very stiff,'' Meggs said.
The full painting depicts the Madonna and Child with Joseph, shepherds, farm animals, angels and a girl with a basket of doves. When he made his proposal to fellow committee members, Meggs projected an image of the painting on a wall and cropped it to show just the Madonna and Child, making it perfectly proportioned for a stamp.
Meggs said he expects a lot of people to buy the stamp and go to the museum to compare it with the original. by CNB