Christmas 2016
Andrea & Giovanni della Robbia

The 2016 Natale issue contains a €0,95 value depicting the Holy Family with St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua. The €1,00 stamp is a detail of the Baby Jesus. The designs are based upon the glazed terracotta work of Andrea della Robbia (€0,95) and his son, Giovanni della Robbia (€1,00), with the original art work at the Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna (Tuscany). The stamps are printed in sheets of ten. A Nativity Prestige Booklet is also issued containing four of the €1,00 stamps. Its front depicts Andrea della Robbia's Annunciation. Della Robbia family-art-on-stamps was covered in the 1st Quarter 2014 issue of Vatican Notes (see reference below). Reference: James C. Hamilton, Vatican Notes, Volume 62, Number 359, pp. 16-25, 2014, The della Robbia Family--Art & Philately Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 1639 - 1640a Date Issued - 17 November 2016 Face Value - €0,95, €1,00 Perforations - 13.65 x 13.77 Printing Process - Offset Printer - Printex (Malta) Max Printed - 150,000

(Source: Vatican Notes, Volume 65, Number 371, pp. 4-6, 2017)