Week Forty-Eight: The Adoration of the Shepherds by Jos Speybrouck

December 1, 2019

Week Forty-Eight: The Adoration of the Shepherds by Jos Speybrouck

As we enter the final month of my tenth anniversary year survey of highlights of the on-line Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, I have selected images for December in a variety of styles from international art-makers depicting the Birth of Christ, a theme well represented in my collection listings. The first featured work is a chromolithograph of the Adoration of the Shepherds by Belgian Artist Jos Speybrouck, the subject chosen to represent the Feast of Christmas in a cycle of mass-market posters of the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, which he created between 1923 and 1940 for the .Benedictine Order at the Abbaye-de-St.-Andre near Bruges. The geometrically balanced composition of elegant, elongated figures; the carefully delineated, repetitive pleats in the drapery; and the subtle, variations in hue on the three primary colors mark this as a work in the high Art Deco style. The Latin inscription at the bottom is taken from the Nativity story in the Gospel of Luke: "Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:12 (KJV)" (John Kohan)