ADVENT CALENDAR 2022

25. OIL PAINTING OF THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

This life-size oil painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds by Edwin Herder, which hangs above Glencairn’s Upper Hall fireplace each Christmas season, is a re-interpretation of an original painting by Frank Snyder from the late 1930s. The Herder and Snyder paintings were both adapted from an illustration in The Christ Child, a children’s book published in 1931 by Miska and Maud Petersham, who were a husband-and-wife team of illustrators. Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn were very fond of the work of the Petershams, and commissioned small paintings from them on several occasions. They gave the Pitcairns special permission for Snyder’s large-scale adaptation of their work.

When Glencairn became a museum in the 1980s, Snyder’s original painting on canvas was found to be deteriorated beyond repair. However, thanks to generous donors, this re-interpretation was painted in 2016 by Herder, an artist who lives in Bryn Athyn. Herder has been working as an illustrator since 1975, and has done book covers for such well-known authors as Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy. Recently he has been pursuing his love of oil painting and portraiture.

Visit us at Follow the Star: A 2022 Advent Calendar.