ADVENT CALENDAR 2024

December 12

THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

Nancy Schnarr-Bruell, John Bruell
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Wood, wool, fabric, leather
2018

Bryn Athyn artist Nancy Schnarr-Bruell created this three-dimensional Adoration of the Shepherds scene based on an illustration from The Christ Child, a 1931 children’s book by Maud and Miska Petersham. Nancy’s husband, John Bruell, made the backdrop.

To prepare for illustrating The Christ Child, the Petershams, a husband-and-wife artist team, spent three months in Palestine studying the clothing and customs of the Holy Land. In the late 1930s, Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn commissioned artist Frank Snyder to create a life-size painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds scene for their home at Glencairn. In 2016, Bryn Athyn artist Edwin Herder created a modern interpretation of the same illustration, which is now displayed each holiday season in Glencairn’s Upper Hall.

Visit us at Follow the Star: A 2024 Advent Calendar.