For the holiday season, I'm presenting four tinted drypoint prints of episodes from the Christmas Story--the Birth in Bethehem, the Visitation of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Wise Men, and the Flight into Egypt--from Czech Graphic Artist Jaroslav Dajc. They can be found on the pages of The Coming of Christ gallery in The Life of Christ section. Dajc is the best represented maker of small format prints and book plates in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection with over fifty works in my listings. His fertile imagination comes up with ever new visual interpretations of stories from the Bible in images both moody and mystical, whimsical and witty. A crowing rooster nearly steals the show from Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus at the Bethlehem manger (above). A shepherd and sheep watch a shooting Star of Bethlehem plunge to earth, announcing the holy birth. Led by a flaming light in the heavens, the Wise Men leave footprints in a circle of illuminated snow, while the Holy Family escapes to Egypt, enveloped in brown swirling clouds, leaving eerie after images on a reflecting pool. The spotlighted actors appear small in these nocturnal set pieces, caught up in the larger-than-life drama of the Birth of Christ. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (John Kohan)