Charalambos Epaminonda is a longtime friend of the Collection and I'm delighted on this third Sunday in Advent to add a new icon of the Birth of Christ by this Cypriot painter to the gallery of his profile page in the Sacred Artists section. The image belongs to a cycle of contemporary icons on the Life of Christ, which Epaminonda began in 2016 with Sacred Art Pilgrm support, so he might have a free hand to develop further his innovative style of sacred art-making. The artist combines motifs from traditional Eastern Orthodox iconography of the Nativity in a radically different composition where the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus loom large in the center of the image, the focus of adoration of an encircling group of shepherds. While the hosts of heaven celebrate the coming of Christ in the upper right of the icon, representatives of the animal world from birds to sheep are equally enthralled at the divine birth, reflecting the artist’s concept of “Deep Incarnation,” the belief that God brought redemption not only to humanity but all of creation. (John Kohan)