Here is the month of May from one of my favourite Calendars of the Months, a roundel from the ceiling of Piero de Medici's private study, where he kept his treasures.
May labours: glazed terracotta ceiling decoration by Luca della Robbia, 1456 Florence.
© V& A Museum
Piero commissioned the leading fashionable sculptor, Luca della Robbia, to decorate the ceiling with 12 coloured enamel plaques showing the agricultural labours for each month (the purple and green vestiges are the colours of Piero's livery). The images are thought to be based on the classic Latin farmers' encyclopaedia (in 12 volumes) De Res Rustica, by Columella (AD 4 - c. AD 74) which was listed in Piero's library inventory. As well as showing the monthly task - here the cutting of the spring grass in May - each calendar roundel indicates the month's average hours of daylight, in pale blue, and the phases of the moon, so important for planting.
Piero commissioned the leading fashionable sculptor, Luca della Robbia, to decorate the ceiling with 12 coloured enamel plaques showing the agricultural labours for each month (the purple and green vestiges are the colours of Piero's livery). The images are thought to be based on the classic Latin farmers' encyclopaedia (in 12 volumes) De Res Rustica, by Columella (AD 4 - c. AD 74) which was listed in Piero's library inventory. As well as showing the monthly task - here the cutting of the spring grass in May - each calendar roundel indicates the month's average hours of daylight, in pale blue, and the phases of the moon, so important for planting.
Above the head of the sun is the zodiac sign for Gemini, the classical twins, the constellation of Castor and Pollux. The zodiac signs are commonly linked with the monthly labours, together representing the earthly and the heavenly cycle of the year.
The ceramic roundels are finely painted, but Piero's calendar is secular and eminently practical. This was a time of transition when new printed books were embellished with hand painted illustrations. Piero also commissioned illuminated manuscripts, and his library would have included devotional Books of Hours. The other traditional image used for the May Calendar page, especially for noble patrons, were scenes of falconry and its associated pleasures of courtly dalliance. This contemporary Arras tapestry illustrates both of these sports being enjoyed by the wealthy:
Central detail from "Falconry"
© V&A Museum
In Anglo-Saxon manuscript Psalters, calendar pages for May also celebrate the spring grass, with shepherds tending their flocks. In the same vein is this May page from the Tiberius Miscellany of the eleventh century; a general knowledge collection, the manuscript included history and astronomy as well as monthly calendars. So it seems that these early medieval texts, whether devotional or practical, combined the seasonal labours with Christian imagery in their illuminations.
The ceramic roundels are finely painted, but Piero's calendar is secular and eminently practical. This was a time of transition when new printed books were embellished with hand painted illustrations. Piero also commissioned illuminated manuscripts, and his library would have included devotional Books of Hours. The other traditional image used for the May Calendar page, especially for noble patrons, were scenes of falconry and its associated pleasures of courtly dalliance. This contemporary Arras tapestry illustrates both of these sports being enjoyed by the wealthy:
"Falconry": Devonshire Hunting Tapestry, Arras c. 1430
© V & A Museum
Central detail from "Falconry"
© V&A Museum
Detail from "Falconry" (top left corner)
© V&A Museum
In Anglo-Saxon manuscript Psalters, calendar pages for May also celebrate the spring grass, with shepherds tending their flocks. In the same vein is this May page from the Tiberius Miscellany of the eleventh century; a general knowledge collection, the manuscript included history and astronomy as well as monthly calendars. So it seems that these early medieval texts, whether devotional or practical, combined the seasonal labours with Christian imagery in their illuminations.
MS. Cotton Tiberius B. c. 1040 © British Library
* from "The May Magnificat" G. M Hopkins
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