One again, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a smaller selection of Advent calendars this year, having retired its trusty Cloisters Unicorn calendar.
The lovely old New York-themed and Met Museum-themed versions are gone still, too.
In their place the standout this year is the pop-up Avian Calendar with twenty-four birds.
By far the most beautiful—and reasonably priced, unless you’re outside the UK—calendars again this year are from the National Gallery. The Altarpieces calendar opens to reveal a tritpych of the Madonna and Child with Sts. Dominic and Aurea:
One of my favorites again this year is the National Gallery’s Brueghel calendar, showing the artist’s Adoration of the Kings:
Williams-Sonoma is selling the Fortnum & Mason tea Advent calendar with a wooden calendar and 24 bags of tea.
The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts has two options: An American Christmas and Norman Rockwell’s Main Street.
Mount Vernon has a Mount Vernon-themed Advent calendar, full of historical information for $4.99:
What did the Washington family coat of arms look like? What is the key in the Central Hall? What was Martha Washington’s china like? All of these questions are answered in this insightful and fun Advent Calendar.
The trend of online Advent calendars about 10 years ago has continued to fade, but Advientos still provides a service to build your own online Advent calendar. The Anglican Communion Office, Society of St John the Evangelist and Lady Doak College have collaborated on a multilingual online calendar at AdventWord.
Richard Mammana 