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Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride

Snow is a wonderful mirror for moonlight. It magnifies the intensity of the full moon, bathing the landscape in a soft silver glow. Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride, second in the Moonlit Village Collection, comes alive in just such a cool, romantic light. Here once again, is a village church built on a hillside where it commands its locale. I like to think of such churches, which abound in rural America, as spiritual lighthouses offering their towns a beacon of faith.

Here the warm, inviting glow of the church calls worshippers up from the valley for an evening prayer. The faithful arrive in a swift, cozy horse-drawn sleigh – the perfect conveyance for a snowy winter evening. The twinkling of bells adds the perfect note to a bracing moonlit ride.

I do love moonlight. It casts dramatic, remarkable shadows and under its spell the lamps in the valley below twinkle with a special radiance. And, in moonlight, the golden light of the church becomes a glowing image of God’s love.

  • In loving tribute to his wife Nanette, Thomas Kinkade has hidden three N’s in this snowy village.
  • Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride provides collectors the very rare chance to indulge their love of snowy scenes that are not specific to a holiday theme.
  • Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride is based upon a trip Thom and Nanette took to Salzburg, Austria in 1993. The theme of this painting is more of a winter scene than a Christmas scene.
  • Church scenes have proven to be one of Thom’s most popular themes. Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride is the second in the Moonlit Village Collection, and continues with this beloved series which began in 1989 with Moonlit Village.
  • In soft evening light, the warm glow of the stone church beckons chilly travelers inside. Small village homes twinkle in the distance as the town settles down for a cold winters evening.
Title Sunday Evening Sleigh Ride
Published September 1996
Subject Location Salzburg, Austria
Collection Moonlit Village II

Image Size

18" x 27"

In Stock
18" x 27" SN Edition

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