Original Piece: The Shrine was created between 1598 to 1600 as a Shrine to the Nativity. It was created by Matthew Walbaum and Anton Mozart. 

Link to the Shrine: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/193632

Inspiration: At first glance I saw one of the beautiful cathedrals that touch the sky. A church like churches aren’t designed anymore. The inside of the Shrine opens up to a nighttime vision of people coming to worship the newborn Christ. The panels open to paintings inside the Shrine with the nativity in the center, the presentation of the Christ child on the right side and the Circumcision on the left. The panel at the very bottom is the Flight into Egypt. This seemed like it was designed to be a beautiful cathedral that celebrated the birth of the Savior. I chose to take the ornate paintings on the inside of the shrine and turn them into the stained glass windows of a Gothic church. 

Story: The world used to be filled with beauty and wonder as people would gather for worship at grand cathedrals. This Shrine of the Nativity Cathedral used to fill with families and visitors from far off lands to worship the Lord. The spires would reach for the heavens as the bells rang loudly to call people into the worship service. On Christmas night, the Cathedral would fill quickly and leave only standing room. It was captured by an anonymous painter and if the Cathedral still existed today, it would be a tourist site for people to take selfies in front of and they would still come from all over the world to awe at the wonderful architecture and artwork inside the Cathedral.