Miniatures showing the labours of the months thumbnail 1
Miniatures showing the labours of the months thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Portrait Miniatures, Room 90a, The International Music and Art Foundation Gallery

Miniatures showing the labours of the months

Manuscript Cutting
late 1540s-early 1550s (painted)
Artist/Maker
Bening, Simon (artist)
Place of origin
Flanders (painted)
Belgium (made)
Bruges (painted)

This double-sided leaf may come from a Book of Hours, a type of prayer book. One side shows the month of August/September, with reaping. The other side shows the month of September/October, with ploughing.


Object details

Categories
Paintings
Access_to_Images 2003
SCRAN
Object type
Manuscript cutting
TitleMiniatures showing the labours of the months
Materials and techniques
Watercolour on vellum
Parchment
Pigments
Gold
Illumination
Brief description
Leaf with labours of the months, probably from a book of hours, attributed to Simon Bening, Flanders (Bruges), late 1540s-early 1550s.
Physical description
Double-sided leaf. Double sided leaf, probably from the calendar section of a Book of Hours. One side shows the month of August or September, with reaping. The other side shows the month of September or October, with ploughing.
In a modern gilt frame.
Dimensions
  • Height: 140mm
  • Width: 95mm
  • Frame height: 200mm
  • Frame width: 150mm
Production typeUnique
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
William Maskell, by 1861. Frederick Locker-Lampson (1821-1895), Rowfant, Sussex, by 1886 (in The Rowfant Library, 1886, p. 221). George Salting (1839-1909), by 1908, acquired as part of the Salting Bequest in 1910 (Salting 2600).
Cuttings from the same manuscript in the V&A collection: E.4575-1910 and E.4576-1910.
Cuttings from the same manuscript in other collections: London, British Library, Add. Ms. 18855, ff. 108-9.
Summary
This double-sided leaf may come from a Book of Hours, a type of prayer book. One side shows the month of August/September, with reaping. The other side shows the month of September/October, with ploughing.
Associated object
E.4575-1910 (Object)
Bibliographic references
  • Robinson, J.C. (ed.). Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Works of Art of the Mediaeval, Renaissance, and more recent periods: on loan at the South Kensington Museum, June 1862. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M. Stationery Office, rev. ed. January 1863. no. 6,836.
  • The Rowfant library: a catalogue of the printed books, manuscripts, autograph letters, drawings and pictures collected by Frederick Locker-Lampson, London, Quaritch, 1886, p. 221.
  • Catalogue of Miniatures, Leaves, and Cuttings from Illuminated Manuscripts. Victoria and Albert Museum. Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design, by S.C. Cockerell and C. Harcourt Smith (London: HMSO, 1923, 2nd edition). pp. 30-31.
  • Summary catalogue of miniatures in the Victoria and Albert Museum: including enamels, plumbagos, silhouettes and other works in related media: illustrated separately on microfiche in visual catalogue of minature paintings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, ed. by Garth Hall, Haslemere, Surrey, 1981.
  • Renaissance painting in manuscripts : treasures from the British Library, ed. by Thomas Kren, with Janet Backhouse, New York : Hudson Hills Press, c. 1983. pp. 79ff.
  • 100 Great Paintings in the Victoria and Albert Museum, dir. by Gill Saunders, London: V&A, 1985. p. 36
  • Illuminating the Renaissance. The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, ed. by Thomas Kren and Scot McKendrick, Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 2003. no. 159.
Other number
2600 - Salting Bequest
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
E.4576-1910

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Record createdJuly 15, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82391/miniatures-showing-the-labours-of-manuscript-cutting-bening-simon/
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