The Art of Illumination

Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, 1405–1408/9. Herman, Paul, and Jean de Limbourg (Franco-Netherlandish, active in France by 1399–1416). French; Made in Paris. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum; 9 3/8 x 6 5/8 in. (23.8 x 16.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Cloisters Collection, 1954 (54.1.1).

Calendar Pages
October: Sowing, Scorpio, Folio 11r

The bearded man holds up his apron to form a pouch to hold seeds, which he sows with the other. He is flanked by a large sack of seed and a diminutive harrow, the tool used to create the furrows seen in the rich brown earth. The scorpion for Scorpio is below.

See The Medieval Garden Enclosed for more about this calendar page.