Labours of the Months

Illustration from Très riches heures du Duc de Berry, 1412-16, by Pol and Hermann de Limbourg, representing the month of August and depicting, in the foreground, the Nobility riding out to hunt with falcons while in the midground, the harvest takes place and the workers cool off in the river. One of the Duc's many castles, Étampes, completes the scene. Illumination on vellum, 22,5 x 13,6 cm

The term Labours of the Months refers to cycles in Medieval and early Renaissance art depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year. They are often linked to the signs of the Zodiac, and are seen as humankind's response to God's ordering of the Universe.

The Labours of the Months are frequently found as part of large sculptural schemes on churches, and in illuminated manuscripts, especially in the Calendars of late medieval Books of Hours. The manuscripts are important for the development of landscape painting, containing most of the first painting where this was given prominence. The most famous cycle is that painted in the early 15th century by Hermann, Pol and Johan de Limbourg in Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. In the 16th century, late in the history of the theme, Simon Bening produced especially fine cycles which link the Limbourgs with the landscape paintings of Peter Breughel the Elder.

Typical cycle

The contents of cycles varied with date, location, and the purpose of the work. The Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (illustrated right) was designed for the personal use of a great magnate, and was unusually large, allowing all the typical elements to be used in many months. It combines astrological and calendar information at the top, with a combination of the agricultural life of the peasant, the life of the elite courtiers, and illustrations of the Duke's many castles in the background of several scenes.

A typical simple scheme was:[1]

- but there were many variations, especially in major wine-growing areas, where more wine related scenes were included. Italian cycles often advance the agricultural scenes a month earlier than ones from the Low countries or England. The impact of the onset of the Little Ice Age has been detected in differences between early and late examples.

Sculpture cycles

The Month of September from the Fontana Maggiore in Perugia (c. 1275), by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, shows the treading of grapes.

Most sculptured cycles in Europe, especially when compressed into the archivolt of a portal, consist of an astrological symbol beside, above or incorporated in a sculpture or relief illustrating a monthly labour.

A few sculpted examples of the many surviving are:

Stained glass

Chartres Cathedral, the months of December, January and February

The Labours of the months often occur in those rose windows that are dedicated to the Creation, the circular nature of the window suiting the cyclic theme. In these windows, the months are part of a complex iconographical scheme. Other windows have the Labours of the Months specifically as their subject matter.

References

  1. ↑ Calkins, Robert G. Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages, mp 246, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1983

Sources

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