online exhibition | world nativities 2020
To view a zoomable version of this Nativity on Google Arts & Culture, click on the image. To explore Glencairn’s World Nativities exhibition Advent Calendar, click here.
7. The Adoration of The Shepherds
Nancy Schnarr-Bruell
Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania
Wood, wool, fabric, leather
2018
Nancy Schnarr-Bruell, an artist from Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, created this three-dimensional version of an illustration in The Christ Child, a 1931 children’s book by Maud and Miska Petersham. The Petershams, a husband-and-wife artist team, were well known in the first half of the 20th century as illustrators and authors of children’s literature. Before illustrating The Christ Child, the Petershams traveled together for three months in Palestine, researching the clothing and customs of the Holy Land.
The Petershams’ books were well regarded by Raymond and Mildred Pitcairn; Mildred gave copies of The Christ Child to over 100 families and friends in the year 1949 alone. The Pitcairns’ enthusiasm for the book was so great that in the late 1930s they commissioned artist Frank Snyder to paint a life-size interpretation of the illustration of the Adoration of the Shepherds for Glencairn, their newly-completed home in Bryn Athyn.
Nancy Schnarr-Bruell, from Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, poses with “Belsnickel” (aka Patrick Donmoyer, director of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center) and “Santa Jr.” (aka Jim Morrison, founder/curator of the National Christmas Center). Santa Jr. is holding a Belsnickel doll crafted by Schnarr-Bruell. Photo taken in Glencairn’s Great Hall in 2016.
The three-dimensional version of the Petershams’ illustration was handcarved and sewn by Nancy Schnarr-Bruell; the backdrop was created by her husband, John Bruell. According to Nancy,
“I love making Nativities because I love making images of the Lord. I think the Petershams in the book The Christ Child, especially in their illustration of the Adoration of the Shepherds, were able to capture a sphere of innocence that we should all strive for when we come before the Lord. I grew up with many of the Petersham books, and The Christ Child was a favorite part of my childhood Christmas tradition. Ever since I was little I’ve always wanted to ‘step inside’ the scene, and be there at the manger with the shepherds. So . . . I decided to make a three-dimensional version. I hope it will help others to experience what I’ve been experiencing in my own imagination for many years.”
Learn more about the book The Christ Child, and also the life-size paintings made for Glencairn based on the work of Maud and Miska Petersham, here: “The Adoration of the Shepherds: A Life-Size Nativity Painting at Glencairn Museum” (Glencairn Museum News. No. 12, 2017).
To view a zoomable version of this Nativity on Google Arts & Culture, click here. To explore Glencairn’s World Nativities exhibition Advent Calendar, click here.