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-)
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
Credit Line
The Jeanne Miles Blackburn Collection