Show all images on one page	#001899 Title: Christmas Artist: Golovanov Pavel Size: 24x17.5x5.5 Size (inches): 9.5x6.75x2.25 Price : $825 SOLD!

Pavel Golovanov of Mstera has a creative mind with a vast base of fantasy filled themes and stories from which to paint. With a unique palette, he has configured his own style that is completely new to Mstera lacquer art. His choice of themes range from the purely imagined to the realistic and from legendary tales to actual history.
Here the artist has chosen to depict a famous biblical subject of Jesus Christ's nativity. In the left bottom corner of the composition the Magi led by the Bethlehem Star go to bow the God-Child Christ who was born on the day when that star appeared. It is an incomprehensible miracle, that was documented in the Gospel of Luke, Matthew, and a series of prophecies of the Messiah from the Old Testament. In the center of the composition there is the Virgin Mary embracing her child born by divine intervention. In the upper part of the composition the angels chant: "Christ is born, glorify Him!". In the right bottom corner there in the following inscription: "Jesus Christ , our Saviour is born!"
The palette used to paint this scene is very diverse. Warm reds, oranges, yellows, and browns are combined here with cool grays, blues and greens. Gold paint is used to paint the sky and the halos above the heads of saints, and also detail some of the plants, animals and costumes.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. The artist frames the lid's art work with a beautiful pattern of gold leafed filigree. The identical quality design is used to decorate the sides of the box, only here it is slightly larger and more detailed. Black lacquer is used to paint the exterior of the box while red lacquer completes the interior of the work. A hinge is fastened to the left of the composition and the box rests on four legs. The artist wrote his name, the title of the piece ("Christmas"), the year of 2005 and the village name of Mstera on the bottom of the composition in gold paint.