Boule de Noel

Angèle Malclès
1948

I remember lying under the Chrismas tree, squeezed under fragrant branches with my brother, singing carols and gazing into the colorful ornaments from below. Ah, but I embellish; our tree was artificial in those days! The magic was there nonetheless. Our distorted faces were mostly noses in the shiny baubles - which only fueled our giggling in the giddy excitement of the season. I found a little of that shimmering joy in this very pretty Christmas ball (no nose though) and with it, I wish you a 

very merry Christmas day.

I'm in the car now. The day will soon be ended and the landscape rolls by as the car moves along toward the heather and broom of Brittany beneath a beautiful peach colored sky. I will be back soon - never meant to be away so long, but once the the blogging habit is disturbed, it's hard to get back with a firm foothold. Until then I'll be listening to Bing and seeing the family for some more feasting and toasting, reminding my husband to chop some mistletoe for the new year and generally, prolonging this lovely interlude as long as possible. 

Noël, Noël

warm wishes for a wonderful day

More Animals at Christmas

Reindeer 

(Stag)

ox and donkey

To light the way

from Emery et cie

Ox and donkey

                                           Acoustix77



Entre le boeuf et l'âne gris
Dort, dort, dort le petit fils
Mille anges divins, mille séraphins
Volent à l'entour de ce grand Dieu d'amour.


Between the ox and the gray donkey
Sleeps, sleeps, sleeps the little son
A thousand divine angels, a thousand seraphim 
Fly round this great God of love.

Dites, si c'était vrai

all photos Le style et la matière

This is the store front of a traiteur who sells many lovely delicacies in St Germain des près. The charm of the scene with ox and donkey is not without a lovely touch of wit provided by pretty little piggies who seem more interested in the food than the baby Jesus.

Joyeux Noël

image: lemondedesreligions

For the first time in France, the Musée de Cluny (Museum of the Middle Ages) is exhibiting some of the most precious treasures of Gothic art collection from the National Gallery of Slovakia in Bratislava. This haut-relief sculpture was inspired by a vision of Christ's birth by St. Brigitte of Sweden, which places the sacred event amidst a fresh outdoor scene of winding roads, grazing sheep, and country folk.

More pictures from the exhibit here.



A very merry Christmas to you all!

Lights, place Vendôme

chanter noël

Two different moods for these Christmas songs: the first is the oldest known French chant de Noël the other from New Orleans:

Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris artist unknown

complete with skips and pictures I wouldn't have wished, but very pretty. Just close your eyes to listen.

'Zat you Santa Claus    Ingrid Lucia

Joyeux Noel

This endearing dimpled figure, smiling his welcome and simply holding a globe in his pudgy little hand as if he were offering a special ornament for the Christmas tree, was sculpted in Mechlin and polychromed in Brussels around 1500. Mechlin, Brussels and Antwerp were among the major centres of art in the former Southern Netherlands, and were particularly known for their production of finely carved wood statuettes, which flourished at the end of the Middle Ages.

 The Infant Jesus statuettes were designed to be seen from all sides and were generally intended for the devotional practices of nuns, who could look after the statuettes as they would an actual child, with maternal care, dressing them, putting them to bed, talking to them and embracing them.

The style of this Infant Jesus is so typical that its Mechlin origin is instantly recognizable. It is one of the rare statuettes of its kind that still survives while several hundred Virgin Mary, Virgin with Child, and male and female saint statuettes produced by the Mechlin workshops still exist, only a dozen Infant Jesus statuettes sculpted around the year 1500 remain today.

The Louvre was the very first French museum to acquire this Infant Jesus statuette in September 2009. The museum will soon undertake the reastauration of this major work which exemplifies the devotional practices of the Middle Ages in Europe. (Donations are accepted on the museum site.)

a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS  

WITH LOTS of LOVE and JOY

to ALL