Front:
Christmas 1991 USA
Antoz C4spHoystAgMus um
199
Christmas poius
Antoniazzo C.1480Houston Museum
Back:
THE MADONNA AND CHILD
First Day of Issue: October 17, 1991
First Issue Location: Houston, Texas
The Christmas Story was first recounted in the New
Testament's Gospels of Matthew and Luke. As the story
unfolded, the Archangel Gabriel visited a Nazarene peas-
ant girl named Mary and told her that she was to bear the
Son of God. Several months later, Caesar Augustus —
mighty ruler of the vast Roman empire — decreed that all
the world should be taxed, each in his own city of birth.
Mary traveled with her espoused husband Joseph to
Bethlehem in Judea, where Joseph was born. Mary's time
of confinement was upon her, and Joseph sought hur-
riedly a room at the inn. The tiny inn had no room for
them, but seeing Mary's condition, the innkeeper gave
them lodging in the small stable. And it was here that Mary
gave birth to the Christ Child. The image of Mary has been
captured on canvas by great masters such as Antoniazzo
Romano and Leonardo da Vinci. Issued in both sheet and
booklet form, the stamps on this Maximum Card feature
Romano's delicately-styled Renaissance painting entitled
“The Madonna and Child with Donor."
No. 91-89
©1991 The Maximum Card Collection
A division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Ed Little
