St Gabriel’s Day March 24th

Today, is St Gabriel’s Day, or rather it was. Because the Church amalgamated the Archangel’s Celebration onto St. Michael’s Day, or Michaelmas on October 11th. It is now St Michael and the Archangels Day. You can read all about this in my post here.

Angels and Archangels are a complex and disputed subject. Angels appear in many religions in some guise or other. But they sit in a difficult place in a modern monotheistic religion. Does an omnipotent God need whole levels of messengers and intermediaries? And Angels and their heavenly host are they semi-divine demigods? I will devote a whole post on the heavenly host soon.

St Gabriel’s Day, is the eve of the Annunciation. The day he announces to the Virgin Mary that she is pregnant with the Son of God. The most important news the world has had, if you believe in the story. But more about that tomorrow. Tomorrow, March 25th is, arguably, the most important day in the history of the Universe. It is:

The Beginning of the Universe

The Birthdays of Adam, Lilith, & Eve

The day of the Conception of the Son of God

The first day of the Year until 1752

Tomorrow’s post is also my second most popular post, and so you can follow those links or wait a few hours for my updated 2nd most popular post of the Almanac of the Past.

St Gabriel’s Day, the National Gallery, the Courtauld, Italian Food and Mrs Malaprop

My interest in St Gabriel began when I was Course Director for the Road Scholar programme ‘London in Depth’. What I love about working for Road Scholar was the opportunity it gave me to spread my didactic wings. So, I could order a specialist to guide my group in the National Gallery or do it myself. I chose the vainglorious choice. But I loved standing in front of a painting in the Sainsbury Wing talking about the renaissance development of perspective with a Giotto behind me, a Masaccio on the horizon and Duccio’s Annunciation in front of me. I created the narrative myself but what a thrill to speak about a painting with such, perhaps unjustified, confidence? I was a mere Archaeologist after all.

The tour went on via Michelangelo, Leonardo, Titian, Holbein and wound up with a Canaletto of two. I did it for maybe 10 years. On one tour, I finished, went for lunch with a nagging worry in my head. I mulled it over. Had I really stood in front of a precise work of architectural perspective, and enjoined my group to look at the simple way Cannelloni had rendered the Grand Canal?

I had. I have always had a bit of Mrs Malaprop in me. Named after a character in the Rivals by Sheridan. Shamed, but the worst of it, is that there are so many Italian Painters (and footballers for that matter) who sound like food. And the fear of repeating that faux pas, lives with me, to this day, whenever I go with a group to any Stately Home, not only will there be a Canaletto, but also there is bound to be a Panini. When I tell me group ‘Look at the Panini’ I have a moment’s fear that I have surely got it wrong again!

So, yesterday, I was in the Courtauld, enjoying the pictures, the old rooms of the Royal Academy and photographing paintings. Looking for something for St Gabriel’s Day or anything else that might be useful for the Almanac of the Past? Out of the corner of my eye, in a Renaissance room, I spotted a painting that seemed out of place. A stunning painting but the woman looked modern or at least 19th Century, and the colour palette very subdued and certainly not like most Great Masters. I looked at the label ‘Virgin and Child’. Parmigianino. Whose real name turns out to be Mazzola. I rest my case.

It’s a great gallery! Do visit.

On This Day

1603 – Queen Elizabeth I died in the small hours of the morning of March 24th. Sir Robert Carey immediately set off on his horse to be the first to tell James VI of Scotland he was now King James I of England.

He left around 9.30 got to Doncaster by night time. Next night he got to his own house in Witherington in the Borders Country, Next day he left for Edinburgh but fell off his horse. So didn’t get to Edinburgh until James was about to go to bed. He was carried to the King’s Chamber and knelt, saluted him by his new title “England, Scotland, France and Ireland’.

First published on March 24th, 2025