Since November 13, a new Marianne has graced the stamps used by La Poste. Succeeding Marianne l'engagée, the Marianne de l'avenir is the work of two graduates of the École des arts et industries graphiques de Paris, l'école Estienne: Olivier Balez, the creative artist, and Pierre Bara, the engraver.
An engraving that's already creating a buzz
As is customary for each term of office, it is the President of the Republic in office who makes the final choice of visual for this stamp. Last November 7th, Emmanuel Macron unveiled the new face of Marianne from the postage stamp printing plant in Boulazac, Dordogne . For five years, stamps for green letters, Service Plus letters, international mail and postage supplements will feature a Marianne symbolizing the ecological transition, presented in straight profile, with her hair loose against a background of vegetation and wearing a Phrygian cap.
During the event, designer Olivier Balez presented Emmanuel Macron with an engraving of his artist's work with a special feature: a color-reversed cockade on the Phrygian cap. A visual that created a buzz as soon as it was presented, but which in no way compromises the production of the monochrome stamp.
The artist's talent is inseparable from the engraver's skill
Before printing on the intaglio presses of the printing works, the engraver's expertise is required to create the famous punch with its intaglio engraving.
For the Marianne de l'avenir, 34-year-old Pierre Bara used a binocular magnifying glass to engrave the original punch representing the entire stamp on a mild steel plate. The digital transfer is then made onto a cylinder using a 3D scanner.
In 174 years, the Marianne de l'avenir is the 30th e version to see the light of day. Its effigy should be printed in 400 million copies a year.
