The Months: December

Engraving, part of a set of 9 (from a total of 12) allegorical prints illustrating the months of the year, the first of several series created by Delaune representing the months. Each print consists of an ornamental frame with strapwork and figurative motifs that symbolize the activities related with the month, the astrological sign associated with the month in its summit, and a scroll with an inscription in Latin on the bottom. Inside the frame is a scene representing the proper occupations of each month based on the medieval iconography of the labors of the months, the main source of inspiration being the "Compost et Kalendrier des Bergers" (first published in 1491 and later reedited in 1541), reworked with the introduction of humanist themes and a critique of the social order. The inscriptions in the frames are poetic descriptions of the different states of nature and somewhat establish a kind of parallel with the progression of the allegories in the images, but they do not seem to reflect the allegorical sense of illustrations, many of which illustrate the misfortune of the poor and the banality of the rich. Additional inscriptions, hand-written with pen, are on the bottom of each print, below the illustrated plate.



This print represents the month of December, with the symbol of Capricorn, attribute of the month, inside a strapwork cartouche on the summit of the frame, flanked to the sides by two men, reclining, and holding knives in their hands, with the head of a pig surrounded by flames at their feet. On the top corners of the frame are two pig heads, flanked by palmettes. The lateral panels of the frame are decorated with trophies made up of a broom, a fire torch, and a cutlass, from which hang pieces of pork meat, socks, and baking shovels. The bottom corners of the frame contain barrels with a pig, and next to them a table with two loaves of bread, flanking the cartouche with the inscription on the bottom panel of the frame. The main scene inside the frame represents a continuation of the theme, with a fire in the center, in which burn two pigs, surrounded on the left by village buildings, and on the right by a brick oven and a landscape on the background. A man, standing on the left, works the fire, and a woman, kneeling next to him, reaches for the contents of a bowl. On the right, a woman places loaves of bread on a table, and a man behind her places them inside the oven. This representation is in line with the Medieval tradition of the labors of the months, including the one in the "Compost et Kalendrier des Bergers."



This picture might be an allegorical representation of the House of France, especially because of the presence of the symbol of the crescent moon, the emblem of Henri II, on a banner hanging from the wall of a building. The man with the broom might represent the king himself, an incarnation of virtue, cleaning off vice, and represented as a working peasant, who prepares the provisions for the winter. On top of the oven are two roosters, recalling the fighting roosters of March representing opposing views on religion, which seem to have reconciled in this scene.