A look at the Sweden 1966 National Museum stamps engraved by Czeslaw Slania

The Sweden National Museum was established in 1792 as Kungliga Museet ("Royal Museum"). The current building was opened in 1866 and renamed the National Museum. It is located on the Blasieholmen Peninsula in central Stockholm.

Construction on the current building began in 1844 and it was completed in 1866. It was designed by German architect, Friedrich August Stüler. The design drew inspiration from North Italian Renaissance Architecture.

The museum houses close to half a million drawings from the Middle Ages up to 1900, including a Rembrandt and Dutch 17^th Century collection. The museum also holds a collection of porcelain items, paintings, sculptures, and modern art. In addition, the museum has an art library, open to the public and academics alike. And it has a restaurant which opened in 1996.

I should also mention that the museum is currently closed for renovations and should re-open in 2018.

On 26 March 1966 Sweden issued a set of two stamps to celebrate the Centenary of the National Museum. The stamps were engraved by Czeslaw Slania. The design shows the Entrance Hall of the Museum. The same design was used on both values. The first stamp has a face value of 30o and is violet in colour and the second has a face value of 2.30k and is olive green..

My eye is immediately drawn to the three people standing at the bottom of the staircase at the bottom right of the stamp. To me it looks like a mother, father and daughter in their finery preparing to walk inside. You have to agree the detail is absolutely astounding.

As with many stamps Slania engraved, he has left a personal touch in these stamps by including LODZIA (short for Leokadija) which was the name of his sister. This is written in a V shape across the gown.