On October 25, 2007, in New York, New York, the Postal Service issued traditional and contemporary Christmas stamps in honor of the holiday season.
The contemporary stamp, the 41-cent Holiday Knits stamps in four designs, were designed by Carl T. Herrman of Carlsbad, California. In celebration of the winter holiday season, the four stamps feature classic Christmas-time imagery designed and machine-knitted by nationally known illustrator Nancy Stahl of New York, New York. Inspired by traditional Norwegian sweaters and knitted Christmas stockings, Stahl decided on "something cozy" for the holiday stamp issuance -- a dignified stag, a snow-dappled evergreen tree, a perky snowman sporting a top hat, and a whimsical teddy bear.
The traditional stamp, the 41-cent Madonna of the Carnation stamp, was issued in a pressure-sensitive adhesive double-sided book of twenty stamps. Designed by Richard Sheaff of Sottsdale, Arizona, the stamp reproduces an oil-on-panel painting entitled "The Madonna of the Carnation" by Milanese painter Bernardino Luini (circa 1480-1532). Dating to around 1515, the painting is now part of the Samuel H. Kress Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The stamp art is considered a detail of the painting because the original photograph was slightly cropped on all four sides to fit the stamp format.
