The Nativity. Gustave Doré, 19th century.
Gustave Doré rendered the Nativity as a scene lit from within — the light emerging from the manger rather than falling upon it. Amnon’s interpretation, a two-and-a-half-meter-high wood carving, translates that light into material: 24-karat gold applied selectively, doing the work the engraver’s untouched paper once did. The surrounding figures remain within the grain of the wood, leaning toward a centre that glows. What was once a printed image becomes an object with weight, and the scene is met rather than merely looked at.
