1) Adoration of the Magi   by Leonardo da Vinci (1480)  – Janet Hunt

(Unfinished) – displayed at Uffizi Gallery Florence

This painting shows Leonardo’s famed reluctance to complete many of the works which were commissioned from him. This one was altered several times –at one time there were up to 70 people in it, perhaps demonstrating as Andrew Graham -Dixon wrote “a panorama of humanity”. The background is a ruined landscape with men fightin , possibly symbolising the Old Testament , now superseded by the coming of Christ. Even in this unfinished state, the beauty of the Virgin’s face, her graceful pose as she shows her baby to the throng, has a serene tenderness which is frequently seen in Leonardo’s paintings of her.

I love this because I feel he had done as much as he wanted and was too busy to finish it –as a young man of 30 he was anxious to get on with the next part of his life in Milan, where he hoped to demonstrate his many talents – sculptor , inventor , engineer – to the Duke of Milan . He remained there for the next 20 years. Janet Hunt

2) ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS c1644-Georges de la Tour - Fran Weden

Mesmerised by the light, the shepherds bring simple gifts of a shepherd’s staff, a flute, a covered terrine and a lamb.  A lovely, understated depiction of the Nativity.

Fran Weden

3) Pantomime Poster by Tom Browne- Janet Hoult

Hello & the seasons greetings to all. I found this illustration by sheer chance & liked it because it made me smile.   I wasn't sure I'd find anything on the illustrator & was amazed at what I found, which was all unknown to me, so maybe for some of you. I've copied this from Wikipedia, there's more there if  you're interested. I hope you're as pleased as I am to find this local artist.-  with thanks to Wiki... 

Tom Browne RI, born Thomas Arthur Browne (8 December 1870 Nottingham – 16 March 1910 Shooter's Hill), was an extremely popular English strip cartoonist, painter and illustrator of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Browne started as a milliner's errand boy in 1882. Then he was apprenticed to a lithographic printer and eked out a living with freelance cartoons for London comics.  'Comic Cuts', (does anyone remember that name - I do)  was  started in 1890. Cheaply printed, it was ideal for Browne's bold drawing style. Browne's comic strips soon became so popular that he moved to London and into a studio in Wollaton House  near Blackheath. He was very successful and his cartoons were in Punch and The Tatler.

Returning to Nottingham, he started a colour printing firm and joined the Territorial Army. Tom Browne died after surgery for cancer at the age of 39. He was buried with military honours in London