Leaf from a Book of Hours: Calendar Page for May (recto)

Description

This calendar page from a book of hours shows the month of May with an illumination of the labor of the month, falconry, the popular medieval sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. A couple rides through the forest, a falcon on the man’s outstretched arm. May is also associated with fertility rites, and the next scene shows the amorous couple on a break from the hunt. Below are saint days honored in May. May 5th’s inclusion of Saint Audoennus, who was popular in Rouen, helps indicate that this book was made for use in that city.

Provenance

Carlton R. Richmond; [Sale: Sotheby's, New York, 30 October 1981, lot 54] (30 October 1981); [Bruce Ferrini, Akron, OH, sold to Jeanne Miles Blackburn]; Jeanne Miles Blackburn, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art (-2011); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2011-)

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Calendar Page for May (recto)

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c. 1510

Accession Number

2011.65.a

Medium

ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum

Dimensions

Leaf: 18.1 x 12.9 cm (7 1/8 x 5 1/16 in.)

Classification

Manuscript

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection