The First Christmas

by National Gallery London

Passages from the King James Version of Saint Luke's gospel are illustrated by twenty-two full-color reproductions of paintings from London's National Gallery--from Fra Filippo Lippi to Botticelli--especially selected and annotated by the gallery.

Genres: Christmas, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Isobel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story full of beautiful illustrations from the National Gallery in London. The narrative and illustrations tell the story of Christmas with the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her about having a baby and Mary having baby Jesus in a stable. The paintings in the book are beautiful because a variety of colours have been used like golds and blues and light has pinned pointed certain areas of pictures like baby Jesus in the stable.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite Christmas book. We display it on a shelf with some nativities and take it down to read to our daughter so many times during advent. She loves it! The religious art is captivating for her and awe-inspiring for me and my husband and we love that the texts are directly from scripture. I also love that the story doesnt stop at the nativity but continues until the flight to Egypt, with another beautiful depiction of Joseph consulting a map and Mary nursing baby Jesus.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful telling of the Christmas story using paintings from the National Gallery in London. The KJV was a little confusing for the kids.

[Debbie Nicoletti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved how the author used the King James Version of the Bible interwoven with photos of masterpieces displayed at the National Gallery in London to tell the Christmas Story. Beautiful book!

[Juliana Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

First published in 1992, with different cover art, this book is a collection of artwork from the National Gallery in London. Each print is accompanied by scripture from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke. It is beautifully presented in picture book form. The index at the end of the book gives information about each piece of art, including the title, artist, dates, and a sentence or two about the work.

http://julianaleewriter.com/celebrate...

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The King James nativity story (from Luke & Matthew), illustrated with close-ups of paintings from The National Gallery of Art in London.