Star Over the Hills, Christian Wall Art

What is painted

A rocky hillside fills the foreground, dotted with pale boulders, dry grass and small cypress shrubs. A dirt path winds down from our feet and curls away across the valley toward a row of distant hills. The sun is setting on the horizon, and the clouds above it glow in apricot and gold against a sky of soft slate blue.

High in the center shines one star, painted with long thin rays like a cross of light. Nobody is on the road yet. The emptiness is the point: the landscape seems to be waiting.

The work is an impressionist oil-style painting printed full bleed, color reaching every edge. No words are printed on it.

The star in Matthew's Gospel

Matthew 2 tells of wise men from the east who arrive in Jerusalem asking where the newborn King of the Jews can be found, “for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (Matthew 2:2). After their meeting with Herod they set out again, and the star went before them “till it came and stood over where the young child was” (Matthew 2:9).

Matthew adds that when they saw the star, “they rejoiced with exceeding great joy” (Matthew 2:10). Long before, Balaam had spoken of a Star that would come out of Jacob (Numbers 24:17), a line Christians have long read as a hint of the same promise.

One of a matching set of three

This print opens a set of three paintings that share the same horizon, the same hills and the same sunset light. The second panel shows the stable, the third shows the wise men on the road. Hung side by side in a row, the three read like one wide landscape, which works well along a hallway, above a sofa or across a mantel during Advent.

On its own, it is a calm piece of Christmas decor for a guest room or an office, and a fitting choice for someone who would rather have a quiet sky than a busy holiday scene.

It is printed on demand in the US as a giclée on thick archival matte paper and ships free within the country. Frames are not included. Sizes run from 5x7 to 24x36 inches, plus metric and A formats, and you can also buy it as a digital download.