2-704-415 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Festin a L'Honneur du Soleil, le jour du grand Ramy', 1723. Feast in honour of the Sun, the day of the great Ramy. The Inti Raymi (Quechua for 'sun festival') was a religious ceremony of the Incas in honour of the god Inti. It was the celebration of the winter solstice. From "Cérémonies et coutumes religieuses de tous les peuples du monde", (Religious Ceremonies and Customs of All the Peoples of the World), by Jean-Frédéric Bernard, illustrated by Bernard Picart. Although Picart never left Europe, he relied on accounts by those who had. The book 'marked a major turning point in European attitudes toward religious belief and hence the sacred'. [Amsterdam, 1723-1737]