Adeste Fideles, Three Kings, The Manger, Cantet Nunc Io, Madonna & Child with Chalice 1916

Editor: This is a series of wood engravings by Eric Gill, including scenes titled "Adeste Fideles," "Three Kings," and "Madonna & Child with Chalice." The stark black and white contrast creates a really powerful, almost unsettling effect. What social dynamics do you see at play here? Curator: Gill's work, especially these religious scenes, needs to be understood within the context of his complicated relationship with faith and social justice. How does the simplified, almost brutal, style affect your understanding of these biblical narratives? Editor: I guess it makes it feel less sentimental and more about the everyday struggles. It’s less ethereal, more grounded. Curator: Exactly. Gill was deeply concerned with labor and the dignity of the working class, ideas reflected in the raw quality of the printmaking. Consider how this aesthetic choice reframes the narrative of the Nativity. Editor: So it’s about imbuing the sacred with the secular, making it relevant to ordinary people's lives? Curator: Precisely. It’s a powerful intersection of faith, labor, and social commentary that forces us to reconsider traditional interpretations. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered; I'll definitely look at Gill's work differently now!