The sheet reproduces Giorgio Vasari’s painting of the Nativity over the entire surface, in the year in which we celebrate the 450th anniversary of the death of the famous painter, architect and art historian from Arezzo. The work was created in 1538 for the Monastery of Camaldoli, in whose church it is still kept today.

At the bottom, enclosed in the perforation forming the stamp with a value of € 3.15, is the Holy Family.

At the top, enclosed in the perforation forming the € 2.75 stamp, are two angels towering above the scene. Inside the two stamps, besides the face values, there are the inscriptions ‘SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA’ and ‘POSTE MAGISTRALI’, the coat of arms of the Order’s activities.

At the top of the leaflet, on two lines, the inscriptions ‘SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA’ and ‘POSTE MAGISTRALI’ flanked, on the left, by the Order’s coat of arms, and, on the right, by the activities coat of arms. At the bottom the inscription ‘NATALE 2024’ and, on the right side, the legend ‘GIORGIO VASARI, NATIVITÀ, 1538, CHIESA DEL MONASTERO DI CAMALDOLI (AR)’.

The set of three stamps depicts some details of the work reproduced on the sheet: the € 1.25 stamp shows the detail of the Child Jesus; the € 1.30 stamp shows the detail of the Virgin Mary, in the act of spreading a transparent veil over the Child and, behind her, some shepherds; finally, the € 2.45 stamp shows the detail of St Joseph, with two figures of saints behind him.

In addition to the face value, each stamp bears the inscriptions ‘SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA’ and ‘POSTE MAGISTRALI’, the emblem of the Order’s activities and the legend ‘Giorgio Vasari, Natività, 1538, particolare’.