PERSONAL APPROACH: The Christmas Spirit ('The Adoration of the Shepherds')



When Christmas time comes, I cannot avoid pondering over the Christmas spirit. I thought that it would be a good idea to post a brief text about this festivity, along with a characteristic painting. The birth of Jesus is one of the most important events of the Christian Liturgical Year, and it has awakened a great interest between artists throughout the years. I have chosen the El Greco’s work about the subject, because he is an artist whose paintings I beheld in some occasions in Madrid and Toledo. What I consider the most remarkable thing about El Greco is the fact that he was seen as a forerunner by many different artists in the XIXth and XXth centuries, probably due to his expressionist and subjectivist worries, away from the faithful imitation of reality. His extremely distorted bodies and the contrasts between light and dark are two of the main characteristics of his painting.

I thought that I could use this painting as a pretext to talk about the Christmas spirit, which is well depicted in this artwork. And I am writing not only for believers (I am not discussing a theological matter), but also for anyone who feels that something is missing nowadays about this festivity. I think that one beautiful idea is that at Christmas the Creator became a little and weak creature, in need of love and protection: a baby who cries in a narrow manger. He symbolically dethroned Himself from the centre of the universe, by becoming one of us, and for the first time divinity and fragility converged. This has been seen as the beginning of a new relationship between God and mankind. This way, there was a main change in the Universe and in the worldview until that moment: God, by the Incarnation, gave us a message of humbleness and compassion.

 Best regards,
Jacobo González

DETAILS:

Title: The Adoration of the Shepherds
Artist: Domeniko Theotokopoulos, El Greco
Date: 1612-1614
Dimensions: 319 cm by 180 cm
Artistic technique: Oil on canvas
Style: Mannerism
Provenance: The Prado Museum, Madrid

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