MERRY CHRISTMAS from Alpha Omega Arts | A New Beginning

AOA NEWS
By Ernest Britton

Few contemporary artists create reverent scenes of the infant Jesus and his mother, and that is why "The Matriarch" by Niccolo Cosme (above) is featured here on Christmas Day 2011. Once upon a time images of Jesus and his mother were unavoidable anywhere that celebrated Christmas, but not so today. Old time favorites can certainly be found in museums such as The Mystical Nativity by Sandro Botticelli, (1500-1501), The Adoration of the Magi by Pieter Aertsen (1560), and The Adoration of The Magi by Andrea Mantegna (1500). 

Other favorites from the past include works by Giotto, the founder of Italian Renaissance painting, Leonardo Da Vinci and Mantegna too but when we think of contemporary art for Christmas, we are left with shock works such as Chris Ofili's view of the Virgin Mary created from dung or perhaps how Salvador Dali re-interpreted the genre. Although religious painting may not be the most fashionable, works such "The Matriarch" by photographer Niccolo Cosme offer hope for a new beginning. May your Christmas today be filled with many more, new beginnings.