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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Happy Christmas and New Year


Louis Cretey (1630/1635 or 1637-after 1702)
The Nativity
Oil on canvas 
58.1 x 74.9 cm
Institute of Art, Detroit

Louis Cretey has been described as   one of the best seventeenth century French artists "within the Lyonnaise school at a time when artists excelled. Above all, he is one of the most original, a veritable creator of forms, a skill not within everyone’s reach."

A mysterious figure, neither classical nor academic. He is sui generis. And poorly understood

Above we see him tackling the  joyful mystery of the Nativity of Christ, the greatest event in the history of mankind but also one of the strangest and most remarkable

In a recent audience Pope Francis said that Christmas  is a “feast of confidence and hope, that overcomes uncertainty and pessimism.” The reason for our hope, he said, is this: “God is with us, and God still trusts us.”

“God has willed to share our human condition to the point of making himself one of us in the Person of Jesus, who is true man and true God"

May you all have a holy and happy Christmas and New Year

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