Royal Mail unveils Christmas stamp designs

Designed by Robert Maude and Sarah Davies, the stamps show details from five different Madonna and Child scenes including the Early Renaissance, High Renaissance, Neoclassical, French Academic (19^th century) and Neo-Coptic styles.

The stamps will launch alongside a presentation pack, also designed by Maude and Davies.

The stamps are to be sold in seven values, with the first class stamps showing a High Renaissance style image from around 1520 by Francesco Granacci, with the Virgin Mary in red and blue traditional garments. The baby Jesus holds a bird.

The second class stamp features Antoniazzo Romano’s Virgin and Child with the young St John the Baptist, from around 1460-80; while the 88p stamp uses an image from 1780 byJacques-Louis David, titled St Roch Praying to the Virgin for an End to the Plague and painted in the Neoclassical style.

The £1.28 and £1.88 stamps show William- Adolphe Bouguereau’s 1899 In La Vierge au Lys and In Theotokos, Mother of God by Fadi Mikhail respectively.

Mikhil created his Neo–Coptic image especially for the special issue stamp.

Maude and Davies have previously designed Royal Mail stamp sets including the A-Z collection and the British Auto Legends series, which they worked on with Why Not Associates.

The Christmas stamps will be on sale from 5 November.

The Royal Mail releases stamps along the story of Nativity and a festive theme in alternate years. Last year’s stamps, designed by Webb & Webb, featured the work of Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler.