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Labours of the Months


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.

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:

- 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.


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