A painting that spent much of the past 40 years in storage at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields in Indianapolis will make its way around the world this holiday season.
The Madonna and Child from the workshop of Italian Baroque painter Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609-1685) and included in the collection at Newfields is the featured artwork on the 2024 United States Postal Service Christmas stamp, a First-Class Forever stamp.
The stamp was unveiled during a special ceremony Sept. 17 at Newfields.
Belinda Tate, who serves as the Melvin & Bren Simon Director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, said the artwork has not been displayed at the museum since the 1980s. The piece underwent conservation treatment in 2024.
“We recognize the importance of the United States Postal Service and the integral role in shepherding visual and written communication on which we depend every day. This is especially true in the fall and winter season when millions of greetings of love and comfort travel across the United States and the world,” Tate said. “It is an honor for the IMA’s Madonna and Child to be included among the artworks that will accompany these messages in the form of a postage stamp.”
Clowes Conservator of Paintings Roxy Sperber said the painting had not undergone conservation treatment for more than 80 years. Scientific techniques that were not available when the painting was last featured at IMA showed the canvas had previously been torn and restored, leaving markings on the painting that have now been corrected.
“As I began conservation treatment, the quality of the painting really became apparent,” Sperber said. “You can see these beautiful red and blue pigments that started to emerge. The lovely handling of the flesh in the Christ child and the Madonna’s faces really struck me.”
Sperber said analysis of the materials shows the paint was sourced from Afghanistan and imported to Europe, making that paint more valuable than gold at the time.
“This is an indication that the painting is actually very valuable, important work,” Sperber said.
Curatorial assistant Sadie Arft said that while the painting has not been displayed in 40 years, it was at one time a popular piece at IMA. Arft said the painting is more subtle and subdued than some of the artist’s other works, which makes the selection as this year’s stamp unique.
“She is only one of a couple of Madonna’s from (Sassoferrato’s workshop) that are looking out and looking at us, as though she is inviting us into the painting,” Arft said.
Indiana First Lady Janet Holcomb, who assisted with the unveiling of the stamp, said Newfields is one of the most important cultural institutions in the state.
“I love sending and receiving hand-written notes,” Holcomb said. “A stamp can provide a small expression in the same way art can articulate a story and emotion or a shared history.”
Representatives from Newfields said the U.S. Postal Service keeps the process for how stamp artworks are chosen a secret, but said they were informed earlier this year that the Sassoferrato painting was one of 35 finalists out of 30,000 potential selections.
This is the second Sassoferrato painting to be used as a stamp. A similar painting was the official Christmas stamp in 2009.
Two-hundred million stamps were commissioned, enough to last through 2024 and 2025.
The artwork will be on display at Newfields throughout the holiday season.