Updated December 3rd: The following Scott catalogue numbers have been assigned:

5143 (47¢) Florentine Madonna and Child
5143a (47¢) Madonna and Child booklet pane of 20

Updated October 14th: The first-day ceremony will be broadcast live on facebook.com/usps.

The scheduled speakers are:

• National Gallery of Art Associate Curator for Italian and Spanish Paintings Gretchen Hirschauer
• Italian American Magazine Editor and Chief Miles Fisher
• U.S. Postal Service Capital Metro Area Vice President of Operations Linda Malone
• U.S. Postal Service Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President Jeffrey Williamson
• Voice of America International Edition Host Lori Lundin
• Smithsonian National Postal Museum Director Allen Kane

Updated September 22nd: Here is the first-day ceremony information from the USPS: Note the new date.

Florentine Madonna and Child
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
Oct. 18 at noon
2 Massachusetts Ave NE
Washington, DC 20002 (across from Union Station)

Reservations are not necessary to attend this ceremony.

Updated September 17th: Here is the DCP for this issue: It measures 1.84” x 1.46”. The B&W postmark for this issue is the standard 4-bar First Day of Issue postmark.

Updated September 15th, from the USPS:
On October 18, 2016, in Washington, DC, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the Florentine Madonna and Child stamp (Forever priced at 47 cents), in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) booklet of 20 stamps (Item 681300).

The stamp will go on sale nationwide October 18, 2016.

This Christmas stamp features a detail of Madonna and Child, a 15th-century tempera-on-panel painting in the Widener Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. The painting is dated to circa 1470, and its anonymous artist is known only as “a Follower of Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.” Art historians have speculated that the painter may have had preparatory drawings or close copies of the works of the masters he imitated, and that a relationship may have existed between those artists’ workshops and the workshop of this anonymous painter. William J. Gicker served as art director for this issuance.

Stamp Fulfillment Services will not make an automatic push distribution to Post Offices.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at http:⁄⁄www.usps.com⁄shop, or by calling 800-782-6724. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

Florentine Madonna and Child Stamp
Stamp Fulfillment Services
Cancellation Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Pillar 210
Kansas City, MO 64144-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by December 18, 2016.

There are six philatelic products for this stamp issue:

• 681306, Press Sheet with Die-cut, $75.20.
• 681310 Digital Color Postmark Keepsake, $11.95.
• 681316 First-Day Cover, $0.91.
• 681321 Digital Color Postmark, $1.62.
• 681324 Framed Art, $19.95.
• 681330 Ceremony Program, $6.95.

Technical Specifications:

Issue: Florentine Madonna and Child Stamp
Item Number: 681300
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail, Forever
Format: Double-sided Booklet of 20 (1 design)
Series: Holiday Celebrations
Issue Date & City: October 18, 2016, Washington, DC 20002
Art Director: William J. Gicker, Washington, DC
Designer: William J. Gicker, Washington, DC
Typographer: Greg Breeding, Charlottesville, VA
Modeler: Joseph Sheeran
Manufacturing Process: Offset, Microprint
Printer: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printed at: Williamsville , NY
Press Type: Muller A76
Stamps per Booklet: 20
Print Quantity: 300,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Nonphosphored Type III, Block Tag applied
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Processed at: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 0.77 x 1.05 in.⁄19.56 x 26.67 mm
Stamp Size (w x h): 0.91 x 1.19 in.⁄23.11 x 30.23 mm
Full Booklet Size (w x h): 5.76 x 2.38 in.⁄146.30 x 60.45 mm
Press Sheet Size (w x h): 23.29 x 4.76 in.⁄591.57 x 120.90 mm
Colors: PMS 8003 Silver, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black
Plate Size: 880 stamps per revolution
Plate Numbers: “P” followed by five (5) single digits
Marginal Markings: Header. “CHRISTMAS — Florentine Madonna and Child” • Twenty First-Class Forever Stamps • Plate numbers in peel strip area • © 2015 • USPS in peel strip area • Promotional text in peel strip area

Updated August 25th, from the USPS:

The date and city of issue of this stamp has been changed:

The Florentine Madonna and Child Forever stamp first-day-of-issue ceremony will take place Tue., Oct. 11 at 12:15 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art, West Garden Court, 6th St. and Constitution Ave., Washington, DC 20565

This Christmas stamp features a detail of Madonna and Child, a 15th-century tempera-on-panel painting in the Widener Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting is dated to circa 1470, and its anonymous artist is known only as “a Follower of Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.”

Art historians have long sought to identify the artist who created this painting. Early in the 20th century, the painting was attributed to the Florentine artist Pier Francesco Fiorentino, but it was soon seen instead as the work of another anonymous painter who had created a large number of paintings in the style of Pier Francesco.

Although some museums still refer to the artist as “Pseudo-Pier Francesco Fiorentino,” scholars have recently taken a different approach and concluded instead that this painter was heavily influenced by two prominent 15th-century Florentine artists, Fra Filippo Lippi and Francesco Pesellino. The specific painting on this stamp is believed to be based on a Pesellino painting, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon in France, which shows a very similar Madonna and Child against a different background. For that reason, the National Gallery of Art refers to this painter as “a Follower of Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.”

Similar paintings, presumably by the same artist or workshop, are in the collections of many museums, including those in such cities as Baltimore, Philadelphia, and London. Art historians have speculated that the painter may have had preparatory drawings or close copies of the works of the masters he imitated, and that a relationship may have existed between those artists’ workshops and the workshop of this anonymous painter.

This stamp is being issued as a Forever stamp in booklets of 20. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.

Updated March 24th, from the USPS: These stamps will be issued in booklets of 20, rather than in panes.

Updated February 25th, from the USPS:
This stamp will be issued Friday, October 7th, in New York at the American Stamp Dealers Association Fall Postage Stamp Show 2016.

From the USPS:

FDOI: Information to come.
Format: Pane of 20

This Christmas stamp features a detail of Madonna and Child, a 15th-century tempera-on-panel painting in the Widener Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The painting is dated to circa 1470, and its anonymous artist is known only as “a Follower of Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.”

Art Director: William Gicker