The Nativity of Jesus by Sebastiano Mainardi, (1460 /1513 ),
Vatican City, Pinacoteca Vaticana (Musei Vaticani)
©2017. Photo Scala, Florence.

The set reproduces:
€ 2.55: detail of the angels;
€ 2.85 detail of the Child Jesus.

The souvenir sheet reproduces the painting in its entirety. On the stamp:
€ 3.00: detail of the Madonna;
€ 5.40: detail of the Child Jesus.

Italian Renaissance painter, Sebastiano Mainardi (1460-1513) was born in San Gimignano a round 1460. He worked in the bottega of his brother-in-law Domenico Ghirlandaio, who greatly influenced his art. He participated in Ghirlandaio’s decoration of the Sassetti and Tornabuoni Chapels. Together with David, brother of Ghirlandaio, he painted the Last Supper in the Museo Nazionale di San Marco, designed by Ghirlandaio. Around 1480 he painted a fresco of the Annunciation in San Gimignano and a series of lunettes in the Santa Fina Hospital with images of Saints Bartolo, Gimignano and Pietro di Noccolò. Towards the end of the 15th century, he painted a Madonna and Child in the Bargello Chapel in Florence.  His portraits are also notable. Mainardi died in Florence in 1513.