Speaking of perfection, I am less fascinated by the deity of Jesus than I am by his humanity. Consequently, I am not usually attracted to pictures of Jesus with a halo. But the eyes of the baby rescue this painting from the tedium of orthodoxy, don’t you think?

 And the eyes, the lips and nose of the infant Jesus strike us with high familial resemblance to the eyes, lips and nose of his mother.  This subtle but delightful addition is included by a subtle-but-delightful artist at no extra charge. And Mary radiates a distinct sexuality that one rarely sees in paintings with halos. And the colors! Primary red, yellow and blue! BAM. There it is.

The green of the swaddling clothes – grass of earth beneath God’s blue sky above – is a secondary color, the marriage of yellow sun to blue sky, and is laid against blood red, its perfect opposite on the color wheel. This painting by Christian Bach of Los Angeles recently sold at auction for far too lttle money. And you know how the wizard hates to see that happen…