ADVENT CALENDAR 2022
Annunciation to Shepherds, Nishan Yardumian (1947–1986), tempera and oil, 1977. Collection of Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA, 06.OP.116.
18. ANNUNCIATION TO THE SHEPHERDS
This painting of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8–14) is from the narrative of the Nativity of Jesus Christ, in which the angel tells the shepherds, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” According to Nishan Yardumian, the artist, this painting represents “an idea born. The angel is an idea appearing, the shepherds are the trauma of change an idea might occasion in one’s life.”
Nishan Richard Yardumian was one of 13 children born to Armenian-American classical music composer Richard Yardumian and his wife, Ruth Seckelman, who were members of The Lord’s New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania. As a devoted reader of 18th-century Swedish theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, Yardumian believed that religion was a central aspect of human experience. He maintained a special interest in religious art, believing that the artist must learn to discern the spiritual from the mundane in the world around him, and seek to communicate spiritual ideas to others through his paintings.
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