Marian U. student restores Madonna and Child painting for Christmas stamp
Allie Miller’s work on 17th-century art now featured on 210 million stamps
A Marian University student helped restore a 17th-century painting of the Madonna and Child, which has been chosen by the United States Postal Service for its 2024 Christmas stamp.
Allie Miller, a senior majoring in chemistry and art studio, told The College Fix via email that she hopes her project helps spread the Christmas story.
The painting by Italian artist Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, which has been part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields collection since 1938, has been printed on 210 million stamps for nationwide distribution, according to The Criterion.
Miller said she started an internship at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields in May, which “was around when the treatment of the Madonna and Child began.”
“I had shown interest in the project, and my mentor at the museum, Greg Smith, had offered that I take the lead on the analysis side of the project,” Miller said.
Through analyzing the painting, she “learn[ed] about so many different instruments and processes that [she] previously had little to no experience with.”
Miller also told The Fix:
Coming from a Protestant Christian background, I immediately recognized the significance of this piece. Of course the painting itself had an impact on me as it brings attention to the Christmas story, but I think the most impact I got from this project is how it has affected those around me. Once the stamps were released, I received so many messages from friends and family with pictures of them with the stamps with sentiments about how excited they are to have a memory of my accomplishment.
When asked about the significance of this image being chosen as a national stamp, Miller said, “An image of Mary and the infant Jesus is going to inherently be recognized across most, if not all, Christian disciplines.”
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“Because of this, and with the addition of the project being nationally recognized, it has a big impact and helps to spread the Christmas story,” she said.
Miller worked with Marian Assistant Professor of Chemistry Alexandra Tamerius, who told The Fix that their “interests in both chemistry and art seemed like a natural connection.”
“To leverage my expertise with inorganic synthesis and get her some experience with Artist’s chemistry, I designed a project working with Allie synthesizing a variety of historically relevant cobalt-based paint pigments to get her some initial experience,” Tamerius told The Fix.
In the summer, the Marian Chemistry and Physical Sciences Department and the museum jointly sponsored an internship for Miller, giving her the chance to work on the restoration of the Madonna and Child painting, along with several other projects, she said.
Tamerius told The Fix the “painting had been in storage, so it is wonderful to see it in the gallery and have it shared more broadly by the postal service as the chosen Christmas stamp.”
The project served as an opportunity for Miller to launch her career in art conservation while gaining a valuable set of new skills. It is also an important chance to raise public awareness about the significance of art conservation, the professor said.
“In this season of giving and community, I think this is a powerful testament to what can be achieved when people with different expertise and experience work together to restore something so beautiful,” Tamerius told The Fix.
In February 2023, the USPS requested a high-resolution digital image of the IMA’s Madonna and Child for consideration as one of its 2024 Christmas stamps, The Criterion reported.
The selection process for holiday stamps is kept confidential, so IMA leaders were unaware that their painting had been chosen until the USPS made its public announcement in August.
However, knowing that the postal service had expressed interest in the painting, the museum decided earlier this year to begin conservation work on it, as it had “not been publicly displayed since 1987,” according to The Criterion.
This is the first piece of art from the IMA to be featured on a USPS Christmas stamp.
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IMAGE: Allie Miller
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