Chronograph of 354

The title page and Dedication from the Barberini MS. The texts read: "Valentinus, may you flourish in God" (top), "Furius Dionysius Filocalus illustrated this work" (in triangles), "Valentinus, enjoy reading this" (main in placard), on the left "Valentinus, may you live long and flourish", on the right "Valentinus, may you live long and rejoice".
Portrait of Constantius II, dispensing largesse, from part 7 of the Barberini MS
Personification of June

The Chronograph, Chronography, or Calendar of 354 is a compilation of chronological and calendrical texts produced in 354 AD for a wealthy Roman Christian named Valentinus by the calligrapher and illustrator Furius Dionysius Filocalus. The original illustrated manuscript is lost, but several copies have survived. It is the earliest known codex to have had full page illustrations.[1] The name Calendar of Filocalus or Filocalian Calendar is sometimes used to describe the whole collection, and sometimes just the sixth part, which is the Calendar itself. Other versions of the names ("Philocalus", "Philocalian", "Codex-Calendar of 354", etc.) are occasionally used. The text and illustrations are available online.[2]

Amongst other historically significant information, the work contains the earliest reference to the celebration of Christmas as an annual holiday or feast, on December 25, although unique historical dates had been mentioned much earlier by Hippolytus of Rome during 202–211.[3]

  1. ^ Salzman, p. 3: "the earliest full-page illustrations in a codex in the history of Western art".
  2. ^ Tertullian.org:Chronography of 354
  3. ^ Schmidt, Tom (November 21, 2010), Hippolytus and the Original Date of Christmas, chronicon.net, archived from the original on March 3, 2013, retrieved December 29, 2018. Schmidt is translator of Hippolytus of Rome: Commentary on Daniel and 'Chronicon'.