A child is born
Christmas is an important and joyous time of year for many people. In celebration of the 2006 holiday season, Canada Post issued a single domestic rate (51¢) stamp featuring a painting of the Madonna and Child.
The Madonna and Child is one of the traditional images associated with the birth of Jesus Christ, the very reason why Christmas is celebrated by Christians all around the world. However, different countries and cultures have different ideas of how to depict the Madonna and Child. This year’s Christmas stamp features a traditional image of the Madonna and Child by Quebec-born artist Antoine-Sébastien Falardeau (1822-1889).
Falardeau was considered one of art’s most famous “copyists,” which means that he copied the paintings of other artists. In fact, Falardeau was so skilled that experts were often needed to differentiate his copies from the original works of art. Falardeau painted his version of the Madonna and Child—which is called Vierge à l’Enfant—in the style of Italian Baroque artist Carlo Dolci (1616-1687). You can see Vierge à l’Enfant and many other of Falardeau’s paintings at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in Québec City. |
