Seven famous works of art about the holiday season
1. Joseph and Mary Can't Make it to Bethlehem by Banksy
The famous Banksy created an impactful Christmas card with a political critique to the mix. The work shows Mary and Joseph's passage to Bethlehem being blocked by the famous apartheid wall separating Israel from Palestine and the West Bank, creating unsettling parallels between Mary and Joseph's refugee status and the current refugee crisis in the Middle East.
2. Snow Scene at Argenteuil by Claude Monet (1875)
Not all Christmas paintings are religious in nature. Claude Monet celebrated in this painting the elements that people have come to associate with the Christmas season. In this case, the viewer is transported to a snowy day in France a long time ago. Monet's brushstrokes and choice of colors capture the fleeting nature of the light and snow of the Christmas season.
3. Winter Landscape by Caspar David Friedrich (1811)
Caspar David Friedrich, one of the leading figures of German Romantic art, paints a snowy landscape where a man lies against a rock while praying in front of a glittering crucifix protected by three pine trees - a trinity reminiscent of the Christian Trinity of God Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit. In the background of the painting, there is a German Gothic cathedral entirely linked to the romantic thought of returning to the simple times of the Middle Ages.
4. The Adoration of the Magi by Domingos Sequeira
This extraordinary work by Domingos Sequeira, which is currently part of the collection of the National Museum of Ancient Art (MNAA), in Lisbon, was the subject of a fundraising campaign promoted by this museum and entitled - “Let's put Sequeira in the right place ”. The acquisition of this work of art for a public museum, making it national heritage, was only possible thanks to the participation of many Portuguese people who managed to raise the 600 thousand euros needed for its purchase. This work, with 150 figures, portrays the adoration of the wise men to the boy. 5. Christmas Cards from Salvador from there
Salvador From there, the surrealist artist created a series of 19 Christmas cards for a company in Barcelona. This image turned out to be quite popular. 6. The Adoration of the Shepherds by El Greco
This Christmas painting by artist El Greco celebrates the story of the shepherds who visited the boy Jesus after your birth. The artist painted the scene in 1614, the last year of his life, in his very own style, which includes elongated limbs and dramatic lighting. 7. Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence by Caravaggio
Caravaggio's painting, painted in 1600, is one of the great mysteries of art history. It was stolen from Palermo, Italy's San Lorenzo Oratory in 1969. The painting doesn't just show the boy Jesus, but also Saints Lawrence and Francis of Assisi. The theft of this Christmas painting is considered one of the greatest crimes in art history.
