Art & Paintings On Stamps

Below are two of my favorite sets of art stamps, both depicting Giotto di Bondone's c.1305 fresco, The Adoration of the Magi, from the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy, together with the Giotto space probe.

The naturalistic appearance of the comet at the top of the painting, which Giotto has here imagined as the Star of Bethlehem, led scholars to believe that the painter had observed Halley's comet at the time of its appearance in the autumn of 1301.

This marvelous detail led the European Space Agency to name its space probe to the comet after the artist in 1985.

There is set stamps of Cook islands dedicated to comet of Halley in paint

Marvelous!

Love those too, Alexey – especially the design from the Nuremberg Chronicles.

Here's a beautiful one as well from Aitutaki...

very interesting plot: a fragment of a Bayeux carpet depicting King Harold




illustration from the Lucerne Chronicle

I love medieval scenes...

Here are images of the four airmail semi-postal (charity) stamps in a set depicting marble sculptures by Monegasque sculptor Baron François Joseph Bosio (1768-1845), designed by French artist Pierre Gandon (1899-1990), engraved by various French engravers, and issued by Monaco on July 12, 1948, Scott Nos. CB11-CB14, plus photos of the original works of art.

- nethryk

Hercules wrestling Achelous (1824), engraved by Pierre Munier.


Aristaeus, god of the gardens (1824), engraved by Charles-Paul Dufresne.


Hyacinthe (1817), engraved by Charles Mazelin.


The nymph Salmacis (1826), engraved by Jules Piel.

Beautiful set, Nethryk, and a personal favorite of mine.

While this stamp isn't nearly as pretty, I love that it features the Diana of Gabii, traditionally thought to be a Roman copy of the 4c BCE Artemis Brauronia by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles. The iconography is unusual in that it features Diana in the process of pinning her chiton at her shoulder. Very fitting, I think, for an issue commemorating an exhibition of textile arts and fashion!

profgreeley - Thanks! Welcome to SCF!

Here is an image of a stamp commemorating the centenary of the birth of Mexican social realist painter and fresco muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974), designed by Fernandez de la Reguera after a self-portrait by the painter, printed by lithography, and issued by Mexico on December 5, 1996, Scott No. 2009, plus an image of a photograph by Héctor García Cobo of David Alfaro Siqueiros at the former penitentiary known as "The Black Palace of Lecumberri," Mexico City, 1960. Note: This stamp is also inscribed with the emblem of the Dolores Olmedo Museum, Mexico City.

- nethryk

I've been working on a topical album of fine art stamps (ones based on pre-existing paintings, prints, sculptures, architecture), and I'm curious about some that I imagine are presumably based on earlier work that I can't locate.

One is the commemorative Italy issue in honor of Domenico Cimarosa (1949), and another is the commemorative Italy issue for the centenary of the birth of Vincenzo Gemito (1952). Just wondered if anyone knew of an exact iconographic source for the portraits on these stamps.. I've found some that look similar, but nothing that is a true likeness. As my album annotations list the sources for the art stamps I'm collecting, I'd love to ha this information....

Italy, 1952, stamp dedicated to Vincenzo Gemito based on his own self portrait



the portrait of Domenico Cimarosa was most likely painted by the author of the stamp, as it was executed in a modern, more realistic manner



for comparison: most famous portrait of Domenico Cimarosa by Francesco Saverio Candido

Thanks, Alexey. I see the resemblance in the first one, although it is not exact, but the second one is not convincing to me. The portrait of Cimarosa by Alessandro Longhi is closer, but not enough to be a convincing source. I am just wondering whether the stamp designers used a bit of creative license, or whether there are portraits I'm not aware of, since most that I have found are very precise.

would you show portrait of Cimarosa by Loghi, so I wasn't able to find it.And moore: judging by the first portrait, the stamp designer was very free to handle the original

I've included the Longhi portrait below, Alexey. Other portraits exist as well, but this one looks closest to the stamp to my eyes... Still rather far from being a likeness I think.

Thank you for solving the Gemito question!