As the United Kingdom's premier postal service, Royal Mail knows that stamps are more than just a way to pay for postage. To add a touch of creativity to snail mail, the carrier regularly releases stamps adorned with all sorts of art, from the iconic illustrations of Quentin Blake to a mail-loving menagerie of animals. Most recently, Royal Mail has sent their artsy stamps back in time, opting to decorate them with art by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci.
This series of Leonardo da Vinci stamps comprises 12 pieces by the artist. Rather than showcase widely-known paintings like The Last Supper or the Mona Lisa, Royal Mail decided to feature a selection of drawings by the artist. Though less famous than their painterly counterparts, these pieces—including soft, sfumato portraits, anatomical studies, and botanical sketches—are among some of Leonardo's most groundbreaking contributions to art history.
What makes these stamps even more special is their timing. Intended to mark the 500th anniversary of the artist's death, their circulation coincides with a nationwide celebration, Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing. For this landmark spectacle, 12 institutions across the United Kingdom are simultaneously showing 144 pieces from the Royal Collection, a trust that currently holds “the greatest collection of Leonardo’s drawings in existence.”
To find out more about this once-in-a-lifetime event, stop by the Royal Collection Trust's website. And, if you can't make it to one of the museums but still want to honor the Old Master, you can purchase the special edition stamps from Royal Mail.
To commemorate the quincentennial anniversary of his death, Royal Mail has released a special series of Leonardo da Vinci stamps.
These postage stamps feature drawings by the Old Master currently on view in museums around the United Kingdom.
“The head of Leda” (c.1505–08), on view at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
“Studies of cats” (c.1517–18), on view at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery
“The skull sectioned” (1489), on view at Ulster Museum, Belfast
“A sprig of guelder-rose” (c.1506–12), on view at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.
“The head of a bearded man” (c.1517–18), on view at Derby Museum and Art Gallery.
“The fall of light on a face” (c.1488), on view at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
“The skeleton” (c.1510–11), on view at Cymru/National Museum Wales, Cardiff.
“A design for an equestrian monument” (c.1485–88), on view at Leeds Art Gallery.
“The head of St. Philip” (c.1495), on view at Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
“The anatomy of the shoulder and foot” (c.1510–11), on view at Southampton City Art Gallery.
“A woman in a landscape” (c.1517–18), on view at Manchester Art Gallery.
“A star-of-Bethlehem and other plants” (c.1506–12), on view at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow
h/t: [Colossal, DesignTAXI]
All images via Royal Mail.
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