[Monate] [ Labours of the Months]

This decorative series 'Labours of the Months' refers to the Medieval cycle depicting in twelve scenes the rural activities that commonly took place in the months of the year. These scenes all depict tasks which are necessary all year round to put food on the table. They are all linked to the signs of the Zodiac and in each engraving the relevant sign appears indicating the relationship between the heavens and earth.

The engravings are after a series was created by the artist Joachim Sandrart (1606-1688) and commissioned by Prince Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria for the old Schleissheim Palace. Painted in Amsterdam in 1641-43, the work comprises the twelve labours of the months, also includes two allegories of time ( hours of the day) (today they are housed at Old Pinakothek, Munich). As a series of etchings the paintings were reproduced for the first time in 1645 by the engravers Falck, Suyderhoef, van Dalen the Younger, Haelwegh, Persijn and others (another edition dated 1651). This series of copperplates, was engraved by the Venetian engraver and publisher Stefano Scolari who worked between 1650-70. All the plates have the Latin verses by Caspar Barlaeus below the image. The texts were published in Sandrart's "Lebenslauf und Kunstwerke.

12 copper-plate engravings,(image size: 34 x 24 cm), all captioned in Latin with 8 lines of latin verse below image, all numbered and mounted, wide-margined, left margins with slight damage due to former binding (tears repaired with tape), some minor soiling and slightly browned; otherwise a clean, attractive set.

Benezit 12, p.373;,(Nagler VIII, 154), (Nürnberg 1675, p. 13f)