Though Christmas is incontrovertibly a Christian holiday, many people who celebrate it associate it with more secular things, like snow falling, gingerbread, and reindeer. Even those who buy into the story of Saint Nicholas tend more toward the Coca-Cola version of Santa Claus than his Greek Orthodox roots. But as non-secularists like to remind everyone, Jesus is the reason for the season, and this year, it looks like the United States Postal Service (USPS) agrees.
Unveiled today during a ceremony at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), this year’s Christmas stamp is titled “Virgin and Child” and features the titular subject rendered as an oil-on-panel painting from the first half of the 16th century, attributed to an unidentified Florentine artist. The original painting is in the Robert Dawson Evans Collection at the MFA.
“I am honored to represent the Postal Service as we dedicate a Christmas stamp that features one of the most revered images in the world — the Virgin Mary holding her infant child, Jesus,” said US Postal Service Organization Development Vice President Jenny Utterback in a press statement from the USPS. “It’s a beautiful piece of art, with particular meaning this time of year.”
The choice of such explicitly Christian imagery is a departure from holiday stamps of recent years, which tend to feature more secular subjects like wreaths, Santa Claus, holiday windows, and popular children’s entertainment — but in general, the USPS makes an effort to represent many religious practices and holidays, issuing stamps that commemorate Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Perhaps it raises eyebrows for some that this focus on Christianity’s iconic mother and child is debuting during a year when fundamentalist Christian political agendas have overturned the basic legal right to choose when to have a child. With so many governmental bodies seemingly tainted by Christian nationalism, and the political stage becoming an explicit platform for oppressive religious beliefs to shape legislature, it’s possible that this holiday stamp hits the wrong note for some — and maybe serves as an affirmative dog whistle to others.
Whatever message you hope to send in the coming holiday season, there is probably a stamp that can help convey it visually while delivering it to the doorstep of its intended recipient. I’ll be sticking with “Otters in Snow,” because I think there really otter be separation between church and state, every day of the year.
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