Advent Calendar 2021

Diorama of the Annunciation to the Shepherds by Winfred S. Hyatt, made around 1925. Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, C37. To view a zoomable version on Google Arts & Culture, **click on the image**.

18. Annunciation to the Shepherds

This scene shows the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8–14), from the narrative of the Nativity of Jesus Christ. Here an angel in a white robe, and wearing a golden crown, descends from above, telling the shepherds that they will “find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

Winfred S. Hyatt made three Nativity scenes for the Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn family during the 1920s; this scene is one of the three. Hyatt, the principal stained-glass artist and designer for Bryn Athyn Cathedral and later Glencairn, also made Nativity scenes for the Cathedral, the Harold Pitcairn family, and President and Mrs. Eisenhower. Hyatt modeled all the figures for the Pitcairn scenes, which were then cast in plaster, painted, and clothed.

Visit us at Follow the Star: A 2021 Advent Calendar.