Advent 1

I love Christmas. More particularly I love the build-up to Christmas. I love December. Once we get to 1st December I hold that we can start being festive. So as a treat for our readers we at The Overgraduate are going to construct our own little advent calendar. Each day between now and Christmas Eve (which is of course the very best day of the year, better than Christmas Day itself) we will celebrate a cultural artefact of note. These will be a celebration of the Beast's occasionally low, mostly middle-brow, infrequently high-brow tastes.

Let us start with a painting. I used to wander down the Strand to the National Gallery to admire this one. Some think Henri Rousseau rather vulgar. This may very well account for my liking him. Here it is with love from me to you. Which may give you a little clue about tomorrow's calendar entry. See you then.

PS. The original's bigger - go see it.