Bartlett’s use of American iconography, formal composition, and primary palette of red, yellow and blue do give “Christmas” an immediate visual appeal. On either side of the boy are two poles of the painting: a Nativity scene and the marquee of the Bradley, Bartlett’s childhood movie theater in Columbus, Georgia. The piece was originally included in Bartlett’s series Lacunae, a title derived from the Latin “lacus,” meaning lake or a depression — a gap, a missing portion. Diagonal lines pull the eye back and forth, as if the lacuna the artist is trying to reconcile is the space between the sacred and the profane.