I'd like to start a new tradition here at S.t.B. of posting one or more "calendar pages" from a medieval book of hours at the beginning of each new month.
Such pages often had three parts: an illustration of an activity common in that month; a list of the month's feast days; and its astrological sign.
The first October page (f. 11r) for today has all three of these components. It comes from Les Belles Heures of the Duc de Berry, illuminated by the Limbourg brothers in about 1405.
- At the top, a bearded man holds up his apron to form a pouch holding seed, which he sows with the other. He is flanked by a large sack of seed and a tiny harrow, the tool used to create furrows in the earth.
- The list of feast days for October appears in the middle of the page.
- At the bottom is a scorpion, the astrological sign for the later part of October.
The next October page comes from the renowned Tres Riches Heures, made in about 1418, mostly by the Limbourg Brothers. The more sumptuous Tres Riches Heures uses a two-page format for each month, with astrological signs and activities on one page and the list of feast days on another.
This page shows the two former components:
- At the top are Libra and Scorpio, the two astrological signs for October.
- Next come the main activities for this month, the tilling and sowing of seed. In the background is the Louvre, at that time Charles V's royal palace in Paris (now a world-famous museum).
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