USPS releases 2026 Christmas stamp featuring 16th-century Madonna and Child painting

The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its 2026 Christmas stamp Thursday, featuring a richly detailed 16th-century painting titled "The Virgin and Child Enthroned" from the collection of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

The oil-on-panel work, painted around 1500, depicts Mary in elaborate red garments trimmed with gold and jewels, holding the Christ child dressed in white. According to the USPS, the painting is distinctive for its intricate background details — including angels, a glimpse of a Dutch city, and what art historians interpret as the heavenly Jerusalem — alongside carefully rendered Christian symbols. A dog represents faith, pomegranates suggest fertility and resurrection, and strawberries symbolize righteousness.

Greg Breeding, an art director for USPS, said the painting's "beautiful red folds" and "ornate patterns" caught his eye, along with its unusually detailed composition compared to other Madonna and Child depictions. The stamp continues a tradition dating to 1966, when the first Madonna and Child Christmas stamp was issued. The Postal Service printed 185 million copies as Forever stamps, meaning they will always equal the current First-Class Mail rate for one ounce.