The Art of Advent: A Painting a Day from Advent to Epiphany

One of the absolute best advent devotionals I've ever read. Scratch that - the best. I didn't expect it, honestly, and will be gifting these to others next year!

Beautiful artwork. Thoughtful and thought provoking commentary.

Just finished this wonderful book a couple of days after Epiphany. It was a different way to prepare for Advent by looking at great works of art, and some more obscure paintings and getting acquainted with them. Included are "The Ancient of Days" by William Blake, "The Last Judgment" by Hieronymus Bosch, and "The Wedding at Cana" by Veronese. The analysis of the works are Christian and there are questions for discussion after each 3-4 page analysis. This is a book I will return to and that will remain on my shelf. Now for an "art" book to read during Lent.

I love having a beautiful piece of art to look at each day during Advent, and the devotionals are lovely. I would have preferred a larger format though.

I didn't think to look up the dimensions before I bought this because I assumed an art book would be big enough to take a good look at the art. Not so. This book is roughly 5"×5". If you are using it a personal devotional maybe? I was hoping to leave the book open each day for all to look at the art, but it's SO small. I am bummed. Were it available normally sized, I would buy it again that size.

This book is a treasure. Jane Williams melds the artistic with the religious vision - they are always close, of course - and helped me see new significance in each exquisite image. So I bought "The Art of Christmas," and am saving up for "Faces of Christ." Reading this book enhanced my experience of Christmas this year, and I am grateful to the author.

The devotional are thought-provoking and very appropriate for the season. I only give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I was disappointed in the size. The book is only as big as my palm and I was expecting it to be more like coffee table size to enjoy the art more. That info is probably in the product description but I was so excited to place the order I didn’t look carefully. Love the book and looking forward to using it as an Advent companion.

I love books with artistic renditions and I love Advent celebration so I was so excited about this book. However, the pages are super small for a book in which you might want to study and explore the art. I may have missed what the size was when I ordered it so maybe it was my fault for not knowing, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else.

I give four stars because my theology is perhaps more daring than this writer’s …

Bible reading followed by a painting relevant to the reading and background information regarding the painting. Used as part of my Advent devotions.

Some of the art I didn’t like. Some questions were challenging! Some of the text was challenging, and the prayers were challenging too.

I have really enjoyed the art and reflections in this book. They have made me think, affirmed and reminded me of some of my own ideas and challenged me into seeing and thinking about some subjects differently, or in a fresh light. I suffered a loss of someone I loved just before Christmas, mid way through the book and the book was actually helpful in navigating through my feelings and reminding me of the truth of who God is.I think that’s why this book is so good - each chapter points back to God.The only way I think it could be better, would to be to include a suggested Bible Reading / verse to go along with the theme each day. I would have enjoyed being able to delve deeper on some of the days when I had a bit more time.The kindle version of this book is great - I used my iPad to read in and it means you can zoom in on the pictures and in my case, I also mirrored them on the TV screen at home, so the whole family could enjoy them each day.

Read on kindle. Sometimes I struggle to find time to keep up with daily Advent or Lent readings, but I found this to be the right length of daily reading. I am pleased it went beyond Advent, through Christmas and to Epiphany. I love the season of Advent, and am saddened by this beautiful season being drowned by the majority celebrating Christmas until 26th December! This book helped to keep my focus on Advent. I knew some of the paintings very well, but others were new to me, and occasionally quite unexpected.