Madonna and Child with Bird

The Arizona Daily Star in Tucson,AZ reports that this year's "Madonna and Child with Bird" Christmas stamp once belonged to a local couple's grandmother.

The 25-by-18 1/2-inch painting by artist Ignacio Chacón of Cuzco, Peru, was among the Spanish Colonial art she purchased at the time when she was in Peru. Her husband, a U.S. Navy Captain, Frank Barrows Freyer, was stationed there to help the Peruvian government on naval issues.

According to the article by Stephanie Innes, when the family returned to the United States, she obtained a special waiver from the president of Peru under its National Treasures Act to bring the painting, which was completed about 1765, as well.

Before she died in 1969, the grandmother decided to donate her art collection to the Denver Art Museum, where it is on permanent display as part of the Frank Barrows Freyer Collection, named after her husband.

To read the entire article, click here.