New for January 2019

January 1, 2019

New for January 2019

We begin the New Year with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, celebrating the visit of the Wise Men to the Christ Child. This month's five featured images of the Adoration of the Magi from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection are the work of graphic artists from Czechia, all of them, small format prints for use on holiday greeting cards. Michael Florian offers the most traditional rendering of the scene with a text reading: "We have seen his star in the East and have come with gifts." Two images in the group are contemporary in style. Ladislav Rusek uses a vertical format in his linocut (left) to emphasize the great distance the Three Visitors from the East have travelled. The foreshortened road becomes a triangular peak, where the Holy Family sits at the summit enfolded in a radiant golden circle--the shapes repeated in the shooting star above. Katerina Viteckova reduces the characters to minimal geometric forms in a linocut of bold color and tonal contrasts. Milan Entler and Bohuslav Knobloch treat the Holy Family to a traditional Czech Christmas with a visit from caroling children dressed as the Three Kings, who chalk blessings on the doors of the homes they visit. The quintet of Magi prints can be found on the We, Three Kings page of The Coming of Christ gallery in The Life of Christ section. Happy New Year! (John Kohan)