Advent Calendar 2021

Stained-glass roundel of the Annunciation to the Shepherds made in 13th-century France. Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, 03.SG.240. To view a zoomable version on Google Arts & Culture, **click on the image**.

6. Annunciation to the Shepherds

This 13th-century stained-glass roundel illustrates the biblical story of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8–14). Here an angel with green wings and a purple cloak descends from a heavenly cloud, announcing to the shepherds that they will “find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

According to Professor Michael W. Cothren, “Medieval artists commonly used a wavy, arching band of clouds (frequently placed across the corner of a rectangular composition) to show a separation between the earthly realm below and the heavenly realm above. For example, when a disembodied hand of God emerges from heaven to command or bless a situation taking place on earth, it is often overlapped by an arching band of ‘clouds of heaven.’ Sometimes the face of God appears within the cloud band. Sometimes angels swoop down toward earth underneath or emerging from the clouds.” (“The ‘Clouds of Heaven’ Motif in Art Created for Glencairn,” Glencairn Museum News No. 1, 2021)

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