Shepherds at the Manger Christian Wall Art

What is painted

A baby wrapped in white cloths sleeps in a rough wooden manger on crossed legs, heaped with golden straw. Three bearded shepherds have come close. The nearest kneels in a slate blue cloak with his hands folded on his knee, looking down at the child.

Behind him stands a man in a green mantle holding a tall crook, his head bowed, and on the left a third in a long terracotta robe holds a small white lamb against his chest. All three wear head cloths and sandals. The watercolor uses fine ink lines and loose washes of rust, sage and blue, with straw scattered at their feet and nothing else around. There is no text.

The shepherds in Luke 2

Luke tells us there were shepherds abiding in the field near Bethlehem, keeping watch over their flock by night. The angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. The message was for them first: “unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

The sign they were given was ordinary: a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. After the heavenly host had sung, they said to one another, let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and they came with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe.

Luke does not say they brought anything. The lamb in the painting is an old tradition in Nativity art, and it carries a meaning of its own: the child in the manger would one day be called the Lamb of God. Luke ends by saying the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

For Christmas and a new baby

This nativity wall art is lovely hung for Advent and Christmas, over a mantel, a buffet or a piano, yet it is simple enough to stay up all winter. With its sleeping baby and its lamb it also makes a sweet gift for a new baby, a baptism or a child's room.

As Christian wall art it tells the Christmas story without words, in soft, muted colors that suit farmhouse and traditional homes. The Christian poster is printed to order in the US on thick archival matte paper, ships free within the US and arrives unframed, with paper margin around the figures. Sizes range from 5x7 to 24x36 with metric and A options, and a digital file is available.