Add a little patriotic spirit to your Christmas celebration this year with Dean Morrissey’s "The Promise of Peace and Tranquility." After all, the holidays are the time when we focus on all we share and the blessings we have in common in this great country.

During the Civil War, artist Thomas Nast created a Yuletide first: a gift bearing Father Christmas visiting front-line troops, handing gifts out to soldiers and children. Nearly all the elements he included in that 1862 drawing of Santa continue to this day: his sleigh pulled by reindeer, a long white beard, a furry hat, collar and belt. Truly, the iconic American Santa. Thomas Nast's 1862 vision of a star-spangled Father Christmas embodied the spirit of a unified and prosperous nation in the face of the divisive Civil War.

What Dean Morrissey has so remarkably brought to full-color life is just how striking that star-spangled was and how timely the thought of a unified country can be. What could be better in the coming Christmas season than knowing Santa’s pulling for the red, white and blue, too?

This is the first in a series of paintings Morrissey will be doing on the history of Father Christmas and certainly a definitive holiday statement if there ever was one. Dean Morrissey's magical work shows that the spirit of Christmas and country never go out of style.