Delaune, Etienne. [The labors of the months]

Pollet, C. Les gravures d'Étienne Delaune: nos 68-79
Folger bibliographic ID: 257947
Robert-Dumesnil, A.P.F. Le peintre-graveur française: IX, 73-8, 225-236
Folger call number: ART Vol. c96
Folger holdings ID: 341038
Accession Number: 217095

A set of elaborate images of people engaged in the occupations of the months within illustrated borders. The seasonal activities depicted for the months are: January - feasting; February - chopping and gathering wood and sitting by the fire; March - pruning vines and guarding geese and sheep; April - a stag hunt with dogs; May - courting couples in a garden, weaving garlands, singing, and playing musical instruments; June - sheep shearing; July - harvesting hay and bathing in a river; August - harvesting wheat; September - ploughing and sowing fields; October - making wine and harvesting grapes; November - a swineherd knocking acorns out of trees and pigs grazing; December - roasting pigs in open fire and baking bread

Edition

[State 1 of 2]

General notes

The border for each print includes a zodiacal sign in cartouche above the central scene, and 2 lines of Latin text in lower cartouche Plate for January signed "S." (i.e. Stephanus) State from Robert-Dumesnil "Cum pri Regis." Delaune's earliest dated prints are from 1561. Based on the presence of the royal privilege, this set was most likely executed before Delaune's departure from France following the massacre on St Bartholomew's Day (1572) The designs may have inspired a very similar set designed by Gerard van Groeningen, or vice versa. (New Hollstein Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings, and woodcuts, 1450-1700, Groeningen 203-214) Title from article in Biographie universelle and Benezit Dictionaire Stamped on cover: Etiene De Laune Les Quatre Saisons Also available as a digital reproduction

Exhibited

Washington, D.C., Folger Shakespeare Library, 2019. First Chefs

Item information about Folger ART Vol. c96

Prints trimmed to or within plate marks, mounted on larger leaves and bound in 19th-century goatskin binding, beginning with March and ending with February. Stamped in gilt on cover and spine: Étienne De Laune Les Quatre Saisons

Alternate titles: Quatre saisons, Douze mois de l'année

Months Seasons Zodiac

printmaker: Delaune, Etienne, 1518?-1583
artist: Delaune, Etienne, 1518?-1583