The Festive Year

Decisive points in the solar calendar, which have been recognized in nearly every culture, including the prehistoric, have evolved into holy days. Thus, the winter solstice developed into Christmas, while Passover, from which Easter evolved, began as a spring harvest festival. Christian festivals were often placed on the days previously occupied by pagan holidays so as to make replacing them easier. The seven-day week, anchored by the sanctity of Sundays, is not only rooted in the Book of Genesis – the number seven has been associated with holiness for millennia, going back to the ancient Babylonians. The number is rooted in the seven planets and the fact that the cycle of the moon is easily divided into four, seven-day periods, even if it technically averages a little more than 29 days. It is for these reasons that the church year does not have a fixed beginning and end point with regard to the secular calendar. This compendium of ten single sheets from some of the finest manuscripts in the world, and the accompanying commentary, gives a detailed and artful survey of this fascinating topic.

Sheet 1: The Life of Mary
Bedford Hours, Paris, ca. 1423–1430
British Library, London

Sheet 2:The Annunciation at the Well
Cotton Psalter, Germany, mid–12th century
British Library, London

Sheet 2: Christmas
The Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, Winchester, ca. 980
British Library, London

Sheet 4: The Three Magi
Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry, France, 1411/1416
Musée Condé, Chantilly

Sheet 5: Epiphany (January 6th)
Missal of Archbishop Zbyněk Zajíc of Hazmburk, Prague, 1409
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna

Sheet 6: Holy Week (Entry into Jerusalem)
The Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, Winchester, ca. 980
British Library, London

Sheet 7: Easter
Drogo Sacramentary, Metz, ca. 850–855
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Sheet 8: Ascension Day
Hours of Etienne Chevalier, France, mid–15 century
Musée Condé, Chantilly

Sheet 9: Pentecost
Drogo Sacramentary, Metz, ca. 850–855
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris

Sheet 10: St. Martin
Mother Rule of the School of St. Martin, Venice, 1362
Museo Correr, Venice