Inside A Letter Box

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry: Novembre, painted by Jean Colombe in the illuminated book of hours, c.1410.

This is the only calendar image executed by Colombe; the Limbourgs painted only the zodiacal tympanum above it.  The picture shows the autumn acorn harvest, with a peasant knocking down throwing sticks to knock down the acorns on which his pigs are feeding.

- Description from the University of Chicago’s online curator. For more about the Très Riches Heures, consult the University of Chicago’s site.

(Source: Wikipedia)

A calendar page for July, from the Isabel (la Católica) Breviary. Bruges, late 1480s. The British Library’s Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Section,  Additional 18851, f. 4v. 

This calendar page for July features another unusual version of a traditional figure; the zodiac sign for Leo is depicted as a lion with prominent white whiskers and an unlikely mane.  Beneath him, the work of the harvest continues, with peasants labouring and cutting grain with their sickles.

— Unidentified Curator