The Art of Advent: Day Twelve
By Blanca Carolin Hahn
With the HASTA Art of Advent already reaching halfway and Christmas practically around the corner, for the twelfth day of this series we will take a closer look at the tradition of the Christmas Tree.
In a watercolour painting by James Roberts, we can see the living room of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle in 1850, in the centre of which a decorated Christmas tree is glistening. The work is part of one of nine view albums Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had collected during their marriage documenting their family life.
James Roberts, Queen Victoria’s Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle, 1850, 1850. Watercolour and Bodycolour, 26.5 x 38.6 cm. Royal Collection.
The Christmas Tree depicted here was a very recent addition to British Christmas traditions, as it was introduced to England by Prince Albert. Decorating an evergreen tree was a pagan tradition connected to the celebration of the Winter Solstice deriving from Germanic cultures. As a symbol for life and hope, it was quickly adopted by early Christians as an allusion to the tree of life in reference to Christ’s cross, as well as to the tree in the garden of Eden, traditionally decorated with apples. In this way, it became a popular practice in Germany.
Prince Albert, having grown up in Coburg, Germany, brought the tradition of the decorated fir-tree to Windsor Castle. Although Queen Charlotte is said to have already brought the local tradition of a decorated yew branch from the German duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the tradition of the Christmas Tree did not spread throughout Britain until the Victorian Age. One of the reasons for that was the emergence of the ‘Victorian Christmas’ which included many new practices, inter alia Christmas cards, spreading quickly in the rapidly modernising society of nineteenth century Britain
Engraving from the Illustrated London News, 1848, Victoria and Albert Museum.
In the new mass medium of the newspaper, prints of the royal family around their decorated fir-tree were published, such as the engraving from the Illustrated London News from 1848. Following those publications, the new tradition was quickly adopted by British households.
From early pagan customs to a German tradition and finally a new Victorian fashion becoming popular in the entirety of Britain: the Christmas Tree is surely one of the most beloved Christmas traditions today and is truly getting us into the festive spirit during Advent.
Bibliography:
Ballard, Linda M. “Some Christmas Customs.” Archaeology Ireland 3, no. 4 (Winter 1989): 132–35.
Birdwood, George. “The Christmas Tree. Part I.” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts 59, no. 3031 (December 23, 1910): 140–46.
Hannon, W. B. “Christmas and Its Folk-Lore.” The Irish Monthly 52, no. 607 (January 1924): 20–27.
“Queen Victoria’s Christmas Tree at Windsor Castle.” Royal Collection Trust. Accessed December 8, 2023. https://www.rct.uk/collection/919812/queen-victorias-christmas-tree-at-windsor-castle-1850.
“Victorian Christmas Traditions · V&A.” Victoria and Albert Museum. Accessed December 8, 2023. https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/victorian-christmas-traditions.