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2026 First-Class Forever Stamp,Traditional Christmas: Madonna and Child
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2026 The Virgin & Child Enthroned
- Continues tradition of picturing classic paintings on Christmas stamps
- Part of Traditional Christmas Series
- Image highlights painting from around 1500
Stamp Category: Special
Set: Traditional Christmas
Value: 82¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: October 2, 2026
First Day City: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Quantity Issued: 485,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Booklet of 20
Why the stamp was issued: Stamp was issued for use on Christmas cards sent for the 2026 season.
About the stamp design: The image for this stamp is taken from the Netherlandish painting “The Virgin and Child Enthroned.” Completed around 1500, the painting is attributed to an artist known as “The master of the Embroidered Foliage.”
First Day City: The First Day of Issue ceremony took place at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where the original painting is housed.
About the Traditional Christmas Series: In 1966, the Post Office issued its first Madonna and Child stamp, a 15th century painting by Flemish painter Hans Memling. The stamp was very popular and over 1.1 billion were printed. This led the Post Office to issue another traditional Christmas stamp in 1968, this time picturing the Angel Gabriel. In 1969, they went back to more contemporary holiday subjects before finally deciding in 1970 to issue one Traditional Christmas stamp and one Contemporary Christmas stamp. Their decision proved popular and they’ve continued to issue both Traditional and Contemporary Christmas stamps ever since.
History the stamp represents: Few medieval worshippers could read Latin, so church art made biblical stories visible instead - through carvings, murals, and stained glass. The phrase “poor man’s Bible” is often used for this tradition: making sacred stories easier to recognize.
Some of Britain’s earliest surviving stained-glass fragments come from the Monkwearmouth and Jarrow monasteries, dating to the late seventh and eighth centuries. The oldest surviving stained-glass ensemble still in its original setting is at Augsburg Cathedral in Bavaria. Its Prophet Windows, from the late 11th or early 12th century, portray Daniel, Hosea, Jonah, and King David; the Moses panel is a later replacement.
These windows were built piece by piece. Glaziers colored molten glass with metallic oxides, then cut and joined the sheets with lead strips called cames. Faces and drapery were painted on and fired into place. In the 1300s, silver stain let glassmakers turn clear glass yellow or amber without another lead seam. By the late 1800s, Tiffany helped popularize opalescent glass, letting the glass itself supply shading once left to paint.
Nativity scenes are among church glass’s most enduring subjects. For medieval worshippers, light through colored glass suggested something more - the divine light believed to fill the church itself.
2026 The Virgin & Child Enthroned
- Continues tradition of picturing classic paintings on Christmas stamps
- Part of Traditional Christmas Series
- Image highlights painting from around 1500
Stamp Category: Special
Set: Traditional Christmas
Value: 82¢, First Class Mail Rate
First Day of Issue: October 2, 2026
First Day City: Williamstown, Massachusetts
Quantity Issued: 485,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Booklet of 20
Why the stamp was issued: Stamp was issued for use on Christmas cards sent for the 2026 season.
About the stamp design: The image for this stamp is taken from the Netherlandish painting “The Virgin and Child Enthroned.” Completed around 1500, the painting is attributed to an artist known as “The master of the Embroidered Foliage.”
First Day City: The First Day of Issue ceremony took place at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where the original painting is housed.
About the Traditional Christmas Series: In 1966, the Post Office issued its first Madonna and Child stamp, a 15th century painting by Flemish painter Hans Memling. The stamp was very popular and over 1.1 billion were printed. This led the Post Office to issue another traditional Christmas stamp in 1968, this time picturing the Angel Gabriel. In 1969, they went back to more contemporary holiday subjects before finally deciding in 1970 to issue one Traditional Christmas stamp and one Contemporary Christmas stamp. Their decision proved popular and they’ve continued to issue both Traditional and Contemporary Christmas stamps ever since.
History the stamp represents: Few medieval worshippers could read Latin, so church art made biblical stories visible instead - through carvings, murals, and stained glass. The phrase “poor man’s Bible” is often used for this tradition: making sacred stories easier to recognize.
Some of Britain’s earliest surviving stained-glass fragments come from the Monkwearmouth and Jarrow monasteries, dating to the late seventh and eighth centuries. The oldest surviving stained-glass ensemble still in its original setting is at Augsburg Cathedral in Bavaria. Its Prophet Windows, from the late 11th or early 12th century, portray Daniel, Hosea, Jonah, and King David; the Moses panel is a later replacement.
These windows were built piece by piece. Glaziers colored molten glass with metallic oxides, then cut and joined the sheets with lead strips called cames. Faces and drapery were painted on and fired into place. In the 1300s, silver stain let glassmakers turn clear glass yellow or amber without another lead seam. By the late 1800s, Tiffany helped popularize opalescent glass, letting the glass itself supply shading once left to paint.
Nativity scenes are among church glass’s most enduring subjects. For medieval worshippers, light through colored glass suggested something more - the divine light believed to fill the church itself.
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