a web museum

 

Trompe l'Oeil Nativity

McCausland, Toronto

circa 1960

What a lively and original creation this Nativity scene is. The naturalistic faces and figures are set within a clever visual play on the medium of stained glass.

A protective Trompe l'Oeil ("trick of the eye") glow surrounds the Holy Family like a canopy of stained glass, transforming the legendary stable of Jesus' birth into a Gothic chapel.

 

Trompe l'Oeil Nativity