In the spirit of the festive season, our gift to you is the 12 days of Christmas retold in artworks. The Twelve Days of Christmas is a carol with roots in 18th century England, heavy with symbolism and tradition. One theory is that The Twelve Days of Christmas was a child’s game about remembering verses and another is that it connects to a time when practicing Catholicism was forbidden. Each verse reminds Catholics about their beliefs meaning they could express their faith through a secret song. Either way, it’s a jolly yuletide hit and as we’re all art lovers here is a mixed-bag visual rendition.
1. A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The first day’s partridge is Jesus Christ! So, here is Charles Le Brun‘s rendering of the Nativity.
12 Days of Christmas: Charles Le Brun, Adoration of the Shepherds, 1639, Louvre, Paris, France.
2. Two Turtle Doves
The doves, who knew, are symbolic of the old and new testaments. In honor of them, here is Banksy’s dove in armor in Bethlehem, Palestine.
12 Days of Christmas: Banksy, Peace Dove, 2007, Bethlehem, Palestine. Artist’s website.
3. Three French Hens
The hens remind us of the three Christian virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love. For art history lovers, let’s remember the graces of Greco-Roman mythology who are forever being put into artworks.
12 Days of Chritsmas: Raphael, The Three Graces, 1504-1505, Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. Wikimedia Commons.
4. Four Calling or Collie Birds
A collie is essentially a black bird, and the general idea on day four is to remember the four gospels. But, for our purposes, let’s look at Tracey Emin’s marvelous installment of bronze birds in Sydney. The seventy life-size bird sculptures jewel the city and encourage flânerie.
12 Days of Christmas: One of the bronze birds from Tracey Emin’s The Distance of Your Heart, 2003, Sydney, Australia. City of Sydney News.
5. Five Golden Rings
This seems a little strange, but apparently, the rings are the first five books of the Old Testament. To celebrate this, why not check out Chagall’s illustrated bible or make the tenuous link to some ladies dancing in a ring…
12 Days of Christmas: Henri Matisse, Dance, 1910, The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia.
6. Six Geese-a-laying
The six days of Creation, of course! Here are a feisty goose and some ducks, all braving it out in some gloomy weather.
12 Days of Christmas: Johannes Spruyt, Geese and Ducks, c.1660, National Gallery, London, England, UK.
7. Seven Swans-a-Swimming
The seven swans are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, understanding, piety and fear of God. That’s quite a lot of swans, so let’s just stick to looking at two lovely specimens in the sketchbook of none other than Turner.
12 Days of Christmas: Joseph Mallord William Turner, Two Swans, c.1799, Tate, London, England, UK.
8. Eight Maids-a-Milking
The eight maids are the eight beatitudes, which are the blessings in a sermon by Jesus as told in the Gospel of Matthew. Here’s Jan Brueghel the Elder‘s version of the scene.
12 Days of Christmas: Jan Brueghel the Elder, The Sermon on the Mount, 1598, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
9. Nine Ladies Dancing
Our nine ladies are meant to represent the fruits of the holy spirt, and to go with that here is a Lady with Fruit.
12 Days of Christmas: Benode Behari Mukherjee, Lady with Fruit, 1957, Tate Britain, London, England, UK.
10. Ten Lords-a-Leaping
You guessed it (maybe): the ten commandments. So here’s a fun image of Moses receiving them.
12 Days of Christmas: Moses receives the Ten Commandments, depicted in a Carolingian manuscript, Moutier-Grandval Bible, c. 800-850 CE, British Library, London, England, UK. Medievalists.
11. Eleven Pipers Piping
Our musical pipers are the eleven faithful (aka not Judas) apostles. Thus, we bring you a a not so faithful rendition of a pipe (the non musical kind), which you can read more about here.
12 Days of Christmas: René Magritte, The Treachery of Images, 1929, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
12. Twelve Drummers Drumming
Finally, our drummers are meant to be the 12 points in the apostle’s creed. If you’re not sure what those are, here is an illuminated manuscript that tells you.
12 Days of Christmas: Twelve articles of faith set out by twelve apostles, illuminated manuscript of the Apostle’s Creed, c.1300, Bibliotheque Mazarine, Paris, France. Initiale.
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Isla graduated with a first class BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge in 2018. After university she spent a year in Japan, where she interned as a curatorial assistant at the Fukuoka Asian Arts Museum. Recently, Isla completed a History of Art MA with Distinction at Birkbeck College, University of London. She currently lives in London with her husband, siamese cats and baby.
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