A student of the Catholic Marian University in Indianapolis played a key role in restoring a 17th-century painting of the Madonna and Child that the United States Postal Service (USPS) selected as the image for its 2024 Christmas stamp.
The painting, attributed to the workshop of Italian artist Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, has been part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (IMA) collection since 1938, the Archdiocesan newspaper of Indianapolis reported. The USPS produced 210 million copies of the stamp featuring the painting for widespread distribution.
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Allie Miller, a senior studying chemistry and art studio at Marian University, contributed to the painting’s conservation during her internship at the IMA, where she analyzed the pigments used in the painting and the ingredients of its varnish.
“It’s hard to process how big this project is,” Miller said. “The stamp is going to be seen around the world. This is something that I will forever in some way have my name attached to. It’s honestly kind of mind-blowing.”
The USPS had requested a high-resolution image of the Madonna and Child in 2023, prompting the museum to begin the conservation work on the painting, which had not been publicly displayed since 1987.
For Miller, the project also held personal significance as a Protestant Christian studying at a Catholic university. She said that the universality of the image adds an “extra level of power” to it.
“It is an across-the-board image that we can all recognize,” she said.
Miller noted that the painting’s depiction of Mary stands out from other versions by Sassoferrato’s workshop, where the Mother of God is often shown looking at the Christ Child. In this piece, Mary looks directly at the viewer.
Miller noted, “It feels like you’re going to inherently have a connection with her.”
LifeNews Note: Rachel Quackenbush writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
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