[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Christians often depict Jesus as coming into their own culture, in their present time. The Italians, whose visual language was predominant during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, featured an Italian Jesus in Renaissance times, and they did it so often and so well that when you think “Nativity,” you probably think of the church art from that age and country—not because it offers the most legitimate representations (they are no more “accurate” than the ones below), but because the Church held particular sway at that time, in that place.
The center of Christianity is no longer in the West. If we were to survey the Christian art being produced today, we would see that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have a much different look. We’d see Mary dressed in a sari or a hanbok; we’d see Jesus wrapped in buffalo skin, or silk. We’d see lizards and kangaroos.
Historical accuracy is not the point of nativity paintings. The purpose is to represent Jesus as one of the people, and relevant to life today.
Below are nineteen contextualizations of the Nativity painted within the last century. Each work brings Jesus into the scene of the artist.
(Edited from https://thejesusquestion.org/2011/12/25/nativity-paintings-from-around-the-world/)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]USA:
James B. Janknegt, Nativity, 1995. Oil on canvas, 57 x 82 cm.
“Roy Lichtenstein grounded his inventive career in imitation, beginning by appropriating images from advertisements and comic books in the early 1960s. The source for his painting, Drowning Girl, is “Run for Love!,” the melodramatic lead story of Secret Love #83, a DC Comics comic book from 1962. In the original illustration, the drowning girl’s boyfriend appears in the background, clinging to a capsized boat. …
On day 15, halfway through our 30 day challenge, I introduced inverse perspective, in which objects grow larger as they’re farther away. Beautiful examples of inverse perspective can be found in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian artworks, as well as Byzantine. Here are a few by adventurous artists who responded to the challenge:
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”7550″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text]Using a ruler and colored pencils/pens on paper, or string and nails, or by fastening skewers, use straight lines at intervals to make a curve. There are a lot of ways to approach this …
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”15699″ alignment=”” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text] A show by young artists, curated by Student Art Spaces Sponsored by the Seattle Artist League Opening Reception: Saturday August 31 6:30-8:30 Show open: Aug 31 6:30-8:30 Sept 1 9:00-5:00 Sept 2 9:00-5:00 …
Nativity Paintings from around the World
[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Christians often depict Jesus as coming into their own culture, in their present time. The Italians, whose visual language was predominant during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, featured an Italian Jesus in Renaissance times, and they did it so often and so well that when you think “Nativity,” you probably think of the church art from that age and country—not because it offers the most legitimate representations (they are no more “accurate” than the ones below), but because the Church held particular sway at that time, in that place.
The center of Christianity is no longer in the West. If we were to survey the Christian art being produced today, we would see that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have a much different look. We’d see Mary dressed in a sari or a hanbok; we’d see Jesus wrapped in buffalo skin, or silk. We’d see lizards and kangaroos.
Historical accuracy is not the point of nativity paintings. The purpose is to represent Jesus as one of the people, and relevant to life today.
Below are nineteen contextualizations of the Nativity painted within the last century. Each work brings Jesus into the scene of the artist.
(Edited from https://thejesusquestion.org/2011/12/25/nativity-paintings-from-around-the-world/)[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]USA:
James B. Janknegt, Nativity, 1995. Oil on canvas, 57 x 82 cm.
Source.
Crow Nation (Montana-based tribe):
John Guiliani, Mary Gives Birth to Jesus, 1999. From The Crow Series.
Source.
Guatemala:
John Giuliani, Guatemalan Nativity, 1990s.
Source.
Nicaragua:
Leoncio Saenz, Nacimiento (Nativity), 1983. The banner reads: “I come to tell them that in Nicaragua the new man has been born.”
Source.
England:
Dinah Roe Kendall, The Shepherds Went to See the Baby, 1998.
Source.
India:
P. Solomon Raj, Nativity, 1980s. Batik.
Source. (see also another version)
China:
He Qi, Nativity, 1998. Ink and gouache on rice paper.
Source.
Tibet:
A thangka (sacred wall hanging) given by H.H. the Dalai Lama to Fr. Laurence Freeman and the World Community for Christian Meditation in 1998.
Source.
Korea:
Woonbo Kim Ki-chang, The Birth of Jesus Christ, 1952-53. Ink and color on silk, 76 x 63 cm.
Source.
Japan:
Sadao Watanabe, Nativity, 1960s? Stencil print on momigami paper, 58 x 78 cm.
Source. (see two other nativities by Watanabe here and here)
Thailand:
Sawai Chinnawong, Nativity, 2004. Acrylic on canvas, 32 x 37 in.
Source. (see another Nativity painting by the same artist)
Malaysia:
Hanna Varghese, God Is With Us, 2006. Acrylic on canvas, 16 x 20 in.
Source.
Indonesia:
Erland Sibuea, Nativity, 2008. Acrylic on canvas, 31 x 23.6 cm.
Source.
Philippines:
Kristoffer Ardena, The Meaning of Christmas, 1995. Oil on canvas, 62 x 46 cm.
Source.
Uganda:
Francis Musango, Christ in the Manger, n.d. Oil painting.
Source.
Cameroon:
Fr. Engelbert Mveng, Nativity, early 1990s. Central scene from church mural. Holy Angels Church, Aurora, Illinois.
Source. (see the full mural)
Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Joseph Mulamba-Mandangi, Nativity, 2001. Peinture grattée, 70 x 50 cm.
Source.
Australia (Aboriginal):
Greg Weatherby, Dreamtime Birth, 1990s? 51 x 64 cm.
Source.
Tahiti:
Paul Gauguin, Baby (The Nativity), 1896. Oil on canvas. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Source. (see also Gauguin’s other Nativity painting, Te Tamari No Atua)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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