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