Adoration of the Shepherds - Christmas Card

You might say these are the true Christmas angels, not the one on the top of the Christmas tree. These angels are a detail from the classic painting, “Adoration of the Shepherds” by Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1665. Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominately features clarity, logic, and order and favours line over colour. He spent most of his working life in Rome, except for a short period when Cardinal Richelieu ordered him back to France to serve as First Painter to the King. Initially, Poussin's genius was recognised only by small circles of collectors. (In the two decades following his death, a particularly large collection of his works was amassed by Louis XIV). At the same time, it was recognised that he had contributed a new theme of "classical severity" to French art. The finest collection of Poussin's paintings is at the Louvre in Paris. The sentiment inside the card may be deleted or changed to one of your own.