FRENCH ARTIST
Illuminated calendar leaf on vellum for November/December from a Book of Hours. Cental France (Bourges or Tours ?), c.
A finely illuminated leaf from what must once have been a luxurious Book of Hours. Delightful miniatures on both recto and verso show the appropriate labour of the month and the signs of the zodiac; in that for November, a man beats oak trees for acorns for his pigs (with the star sign Sagittarius in the top right corner) and in December, another man is swinging his club, about to stun his pig, the sign of Capricorn above him. Both have illuminated panel borders to the side of the text, and illuminated initials and lettering in gold, blue and red with a saint recorded for every day.
“The pictures of the occupations of the months contain material of the greatest interest for students of social history, costume and agriculture. In them can be found illustrations of domestic interiors, agricultural implements, methods of pruning, ploughing, reaping, shearing sheep, wine-making and baking, while the courtly scenes show how the leisured class disported themselves in hawking, hunting, boating and dalliance in gardens dressed in their finest clothes” (John Harthan, Books of Hours, 1977, pp. 24-26).
