Adoration of the Shepherds
Between 1925 and 1929 the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv gained an unusual painting decoration, commissioned by Bishop Józef Teodorowicz and made by Jan Henryk Rosen. It includes Adoration of the Shepherds, located on the northern wall of the transept, between the door and the window.
Painting decoration by Jan Henryk Rosen
This scene, which grew out of sentimental and personalistic trends in theology, is composed in a hierarchical way - on the axis of the composition is the Blessed Virgin Mary, sitting on an invisible throne, spreading her hands in the orans gesture, with the Child resting on her lap. She is surrounded on both sides by pairs of angels, flanked by shepherds, among whom on the right is St. Joseph. The striking contrast between Mary, depicted as a medieval Maesta, and the figures of the shepherds, depicted in motion from different angles, reflects the incompatibility of the two worlds. The dividing line between them is marked by a carpet under the feet of Our Lady, spread out in the meadow where the Shepherds are depicted. These two orders are only united by an anti-naturalistic burgundy background.
The vivid colours and exquisite robes of Mary, the colourful carpet, the snow-white angels separating the central group from the shepherds dressed in sheepskins and simple tunics, clearly define the two zones - the sacred in the centre and the profane on the sides, which is also emphasized by the halos above the central group. The hierarchical composition and abstract colors make this representation look unreal, but when we focus on the figures, we can see their realistic features, not only in the figures of the shepherds, but also in Mary - a young, beautiful girl - and even the Child, who is a little baby lying on her lap.
Like most mystical visions, the scene is a mixture of fantasy and reality, showing God through the image of man, touching the depths of the mystery of incarnation, i.e. the Nativity of Jesus. This mystery, depicted in the sacrum zone, is what is being adored by the shepherds, but only two of them actually enter the holy place, and both of them on their knees. The group includes the artist himself, as the shepherd with a lantern, and the face of the father of the holy family is a portrait of the artist’s father - the painter Jan Rosen. In this way the artist showed his very personal interpretation of the Nativity of Jesus, which, while being an eternal reality, meets his world, and thus it can also meet our own everyday life.
