Pāhonoa te oro

There is a painting hanging in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rennes, France. It shows a woman holding a newborn baby. There is a single candle. A hand shields the flame. And in that shielded light — a child sleeps. That's all. No angels. No halos. No divine architecture. Just a flame. A hand. A child. And darkness that feels almost alive. The man who painted this was celebrated by kings. He was titled Painter to the King of France by Louis XIII himself. And then — for nearly three hundre