During the season of Advent I will be uploading new images to my sacred artist listings, celebrating the birth of Christ. It's been a long time since I've had a work by Cypriot Artist Charalambos Epaminonda to add to my collection, so, I'm delighted to begin this cycle of Christmas artwork with an acrylic on canvas painting of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, titled Madonna of the Woods, which I acquired during a recent visit with the artist at his studio in the village of Stroumbi. In Epaminonda's rendering of this traditional theme, the image of the Madonna and Child is intimately intertwined with all of created life, emerging from a background of leafy branches and flowing streams, providing shelter for birds and fish. It is a beautiful recapitulation of the doctrine of the Incarnation, where God takes on human form, entering into the universe God has created to redeem all things and bring them to fruition. The cubist-expressionist style of this new piece recalls Epaminonda's Parables of Mercy triptych in my collection. (John Kohan)