A stamp approved by Patriarch's office 26 декабря 2014 года, 15:16

A stamp approved by Patriarch's office

The Moscow Printing Factory of Goznak has printed the souvenir sheet dedicated to the 700th anniversary of birth of Reverend Sergius of Radonezh.
The souvenir sheet dedicated to the 700th anniversary of birth of Reverend Sergius of Radonezh was offset-printed in five inks – four standard ones and bronze. The compositional and conceptual emphases – the halo of light around the candle, the nimbus of the saint, the church domes – were marked with bronze.
A religious procession led by Sergius of Radonezh against the background of the Holy Trinity Saint Sergius Laura, a flock of doves (Sergius’ followers and disciples) in the sky were depicted on the souvenir sheet. Together with the images of historical personalities – Grand Duke Dmitry of Don, a legendary monk and warrior Alexander Peresvet, - modern Orthodox people carrying lights in front of them are depicted among the procession participants.  
The sheet margins are made in a very interesting way, in the shape of mosaics. Moreover, separate mosaic tiles are bronze-printed. The name of the sheet is printed with the same ink. In order to transmit the facture of the traditional church mosaics, the “mosaic” margins of the sheet are partially varnished, also in the shape of abaculus.  
A few variants had been evaluated before the final variant of the sheet printing and design was chosen. In one of them, foil application was planned instead of varnishing. Foil was removed because glossy emphases dislodged the attention from the compositional center of the sheet – from the face of Sergius of Radonezh. After the foil application was rejected and replaced with the muted light of the bronze, there appeared an idea of partial varnishing. It helped to preserve the general stylistics of the church semi-darkness and to emphasize the mosaic facture at the same time.
The work upon the souvenir sheet had been carried for a long time. The sketch was approved by Patriarch’s Office (all church images are approved here).
The work was interesting and complicated; it was finished with a great result – the sheet gives a strong emotional impression and is notable for its elegance and printing excellence.