merry merry

jultomten or tomte (sweden)

nisse (norway & denmark)

jultomten & nisse are mythological creatures from scandanavian folklore that are usually small, elderly men (no taller than 3 feet) with full beards & dressed as farmers. they deliver gifts in exchange for a bowl of porridge with butter.

krampus (austria & hungary)

st. nick's devil-like counterpart punishes bad children who have misbehaved. he carries chains & a basket to carry off the really bad children to his lair.

zwarte piet (belgium, the netherlands)

zwarte piet or "black pete" was santa's african or moorish slave who helped him distribute gifts. he also had the task of abducting naughty children & whisking them away to spain (i guess their idea of hell?)

mummers (latvia)

mummers are associated with the winter solstice & date back to pagan times when people would try to employ magic to encourage the sun to return. the mummers go from house to house disguised as animals, gypsies & zombies. they play music to bestow blessings on the homes as well as drive out evil spirits & ensure fertility during the year to come. 

mari lywd (wales)

mari lywd translates as "gray mare" & involves carting a horse door to door accompanied by a group of singers & dancers. this tradition is a holdover from pagan celebrations before christmas was introduced to wales. 

kallikantzeri (greece)

kallikantzeri are malevolent goblins that dwell underground but come to the surface during the twelve days of christmas, from december 25th to january 6th.  it is believed that they stay underground sawing the world tree which holds up the world.

christkind (germany)

the chriskind is a winged, fairy-like being, dressed in gold & white robes with a crown upon her golden locks. known as the christ child's messenger, she visits each house with a basket of presents.

she dates back to the 1500s when martin luther promoted her to discourage the figure of st. nicholas.

julbocken (sweden)

the straw goat that brings presents to children can trace its origins back to the scandanvian myths of thor & his goats. in medieval plays, he accompanies st. nicholas & was the incarnation of the devil.

la befana (italy)

an old witch named la befana fills the socks of good children with candy & lumps of coal are left for the bad. she uses her broom to clean untidy houses before she leaves. scholars believe she is a medieval reincarnation of the ancient roman deity strenia, goddess of strength & endurance.

the sacred & profane - medieval illuminated manuscripts

a lady bringing the unicorn's head to the table from geoffrey fule's cookbook,  london, england, british library, mid 14th century.

from a book of hours from France, 15th century, beinecke rare book & manuscript library.

dance of death, germany, 16th century

verso: (above unidentified coat of arms: amicus certus in re incerta cernitur/haec scribebat ioanno theodosius/nervius duo charissimo socio.  translation: a true friend is revealed in uncertain times. theodosius nervius wrote this for his dear friend, hans.)

detail of a miniature of mice laying siege to a castle defended by a cat from a book of hours, england (london), c. 1320-c. 1330

detail of a unicorn on the grill in geoffrey fule's cookbook, england, mid-14th century (london, british library) 

detail of a miniature of the allegorical personifications of friendly expression and courteous manner, catching flighty hearts in their net; from pierre sala, petit livre d'amour, france (paris and lyon), ca. 1500.

detail of a marginal scene of a man displaying his hindquarters from the gorleston psalter, "virility" england 14th century.

slaughter of innocents from 'the cloisters apocalypse', normandy, france  ca. 1330. new York, (metropolitan museum of art, new york)

detail of a marginal miniature of a dragon from the luttrell psalter, england, ca. 1325-1340

detail of an historiated initial 'd' (ilexi) with a woman (duchess dionora?) with skull for a face admiring herself in hand mirror, and a partial scatter border with gems and flowers, 'memento homo' in a roundel, from the office of the dead, from a book of hours ('the hours of dionara of urbino'), italy, ca. 1480

nun breastfeeding a monkey, arthurian romances, france ca. 1300.  (john rylands university library, manchester) 

an archangel locks the hellmouth from the winchester psalter, english, 12th century.

saracens defiling a church from chroniques de france ou de st. denis, france 1332-1350

snail vs. nnight, from the smithsfield decretals, decretals of gregory IX, tolouse, france,  ca. 1300 (illuminations were added about forty years later in london).

the crucifixion of christ. chronicle of world history and english john of worcester, 1128-1131, oxford (library of corpus christi college)

detail of a full-page miniature of a memento mori with a banner reading 'memento homo quod sinis es et in sinere reverteris' (remember man, that thou art dust and to dust you will return) from the 'hours of rené d'anjou', france, ca. 1410. 

conception of alexander the great from les faize d'alexandre (a translation of historiae alexandri magni of quintus curtius rufus), Bruges, ca. 1468-1475 (british library).

extinction of endangered species, from a book of hours, france, ca. 1475-1500.

nuns & a penis tree from roman de la rose, france, 14th century (bibliothèque nationale de france, paris).

the thinker monkey, from the breviary of mary of savoy, lombardy, ca. 1430.

the remains of the unicorn from geoffrey fule's cookbook,  london, england, british library, mid 14th century.

how to dress for halloween

venice bal besteigui photographed by robert doisneau, september 3, 1951

marisa berenson dressed as marchesa luisa casati at le bal proust photographed by cecil beaton, 1971

a group of elves with an elf king, 1909

gala & salvador dali’s “night in a surrealist forest” dinner party, 1941

oscar de la renta (left) and baron alexis de rede (right) at de rede's bal oriental, 5 december 1969

marquise mahaut de chabannes in cléopatra costume for  marchesa casati’s “fete of ancient splendour," at her rose palace photographed by george hoyningen-huene,  ca. 1927 

senhora espírito santo and the duke and duchess of cadaval at the surrealiste ball, 1972

suzy beryl wearing an erté costume in coeurs en folie (la revue des folies bergère), 1924

venice bal besteigui photographed by robert doisneau, 3 september 1951

costume party, ca. 1920s

bal des masques organized by baron de redé at the hôtel lambert, (possibly bal des têtes) photographed by andré ostier, 1956 

 jacques fath as "charles IV", madame fath as "elizabeth of austria" and christian bérard as "henry VIII" atthe bal des rois et reines, paris, 1949

marquisa luisa casati wearing "queen of the night" costume designed by léon bakst, 1922 

mrs. robert l. stevens dressed as greta garbo for the masquerade ball given by muriel maxwell in the crystal room at the ritz, photographed by edward steichen, paris,  9 december, 1929

kids in halloween costumes photographed by arthur tress, ca. 1960s

okay, okay, so most of these are not from halloween....but really, aren't these costumes so much more interesting than a slutty nurse or slutty slut?

the story-tellers, part 51

edith piaf, 1949

new york city, photographed by stanley kubrick, 1946 

la robe trop étroite, paris,  photographed by jeanloup sieff, 1995 

rebecca strand photographed by her husband paul strand, 1932

max liebermann (from the series celebrities from behind) photographed by YVA (else ernestine neuländer-simon), before 1930

piano player from behind, photographed by larry fink, 1990

mantilla photographed by leopolde pomes, 2010

homecoming prisoner, vienna photographed by ernst haas, 1946-1948

jayne mansfield, facing the press, ca. 1950s

untitled, photographed by william eggleston, 1965-68 and 1972-74, from los alamos, 2003