This double-sided leaf, possibly from the calendar of a book of hours, seems to illustrate on one side the month of April and on the other side the month of May. April shows lovers making music by a canal while in the fields beyond a cow is milked, the sheep are taken out to graze and on a chimney pot a stork makes itís nest. May shows a scene of May Day merrymaking; a boat trip with musicians, a floral procession and dancing in the square.
Simon Bening was one of the most celebrated illuminators of his time. He worked mainly in Bruges. His work often comes close to contemporary panel painting, particularly in full-page miniatures, such as these, where the image is surrounded by a simple border similar to a picture frame.
In the late medieval period Books of Hours were a type of prayerbook for private use by the laity, containing psalms and devotions for the eight canonical hours of the day. They were typically small and portable. Simon Bening’s workshop made many Books of Hours, often containing calendar illustrations.
Physical description
Double-sided leaf
Place of Origin
Flanders; Belgium
Date
1510-1560 (painted)
Artist/maker
Benninck, Simon
Materials and Techniques
Watercolour on vellum
Dimensions
Height: 18.3 cm (framed)
Width: 15.5 cm (framed)
Object history note
This scene is typical of illustrations for religious calendars listing the saint's days month by month.
Historical context note
Data taken from notes compiled by Rowan Watson. The full text of the entry is as follows:
(following text refers to E. 4575-1910 & 4576-1910)
Cat.no 106: Two leaves with full-page calendar illustrations painted by Simon Bening; Netherlands (Bruges?) early 16th century (E.4575-1910 & 4576-1910)
Individual item text
Cat. no. 106.1
E.4575-1910
CALENDAR - illustrations for April and May
Leaf, with illustrations for months for April and May on each side, presumed to from a calendar attributed to Simon Bening . Other leaves are V&A PDP E. 4576-1910 and BL, Add.MS 18855, fols 108-109.
NL (South) . c. 1540
150 x 100 mm.
Owned by H. Magniac & W. Maskell in 1862; Locker-Lampson Coll.; acquires with the George Slating Bequest in 1910 (no 2538)
Pub: `Catalogue of the Special Exhibition ' (1862), no. 6,836;
1923 cat, 30-31; Kren, 1983, pp. 79 et seq.'
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
100 Great Paintings in The Victoria & Albert Museum.London: V&A, 1985, p.36
The following is the full text of the entry:
"Simon Benninck 1483- 1561
Netherlandish School
THE MONTH OF MAY, LEAF FROM A CALENDAR OF A BOOK OF HOURS
Bodycolour on vellum, 14 X 9.5 cm
E.4575-1910. Salting Bequest.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Calendars, listing saints' days, month by month, formed an integral part of books for services and for private devotion, such as Psalters and Books of Hours. They were illustrated with the occupations of the months and hence it was in the pages of these religious manuscripts that most medieval pictures of secular activities are to be found. And when, from the late 14th century, there was a renewed interest in direct observation from nature, it was in Calendar illustrations that the early experiments in naturalism were made.
This is a late, exceptionally charming example of the type, dating from about 1540 when the printed book was rapidly replacing the manuscript. It illustrates the month of May with a scene of May Day merrymaking: a boat trip with musicians, a floral procession and dancing in the square. The town appears to be a fantasy, loosely based on Bruges, but all the details of architecture, landscape and figures, down to the unconcerned washerwoman, emphasize the naturalism pioneered by the Flemish School in the 15th century. On the reverse of this sheet is the miniature for April (Courting), another sheet in the Museum has August (Reaping), and September (Sowing, Harrowing) and there are two further leaves from this series in the British Library (MS Add 18855). In these, as in all such Calendar illustrations, there is a striking contrast between the leisure activities, enjoyed principally by the aristocracy, and the work in the fields done by peasants.
Simon Benninck was one of the last major representatives of the early Flemish School. Born in Ghent, he moved to Bruges in 1508 and remained there for most of his life. He worked together with his father, Alexander, on the Grimani Breviary and other important illuminated manuscripts. His self-portrait, painted in body colour on vellum, also in the Museum, epitomizes the close link between the Ghent-Bruges School of Illuminators and the origins of the portrait miniature in Tudor England. Indeed, Simon's daughter Levina Teerlinc (d.1576) was one of the Flemish artists who received official payments for portrait miniatures in the reign of Henry VIII.
Michael Kauffmann"
Materials
Watercolour; Vellum (skin)
Subjects depicted
Architecture; Bridges (built works); Costume; Landscape; Festivals
Categories
Paintings
Collection code
PDP
