The swerd of wynter, keene and coold' -- the hardships of winter accentuated the plight of the poor. Scene of peasant household in winter. peasantry 14c 15c countryside.
The Trial of the Duke of Alencon at Vendome, 1458.
“Boccaccio’s work, entitled in the translation by Laurent de Premierfait Des Cas des nobles hommes et femmes malheureux, had become a favourite at that time with the world of fashion. Duke...
On huntyng be they riden roially'. All classes loved hunting, though the poor could not enjoy the sumptuous day long sport of the nobility, and Chaucer hardly idealizes it as he does virtuous poverty. Aristocracy. 15c 14c.
Courtier talking to monk, with devil pricking his cloak. Courtier may wish to pursue ideals of monk, but lifestyle of court, its preoccupation with appearance, status and acquisition of wealth, exposes him to prickings of devil's fork. Aristocracy....
An embarrassing moment in a medieval brothel.
E.J. Burford, The Orrible Synne, 1973, notes that this image is from an engraving by the Master of the Banderoles, and points out that ""[t]he handsome young nobleman is attended even in the...
A Peasant Woman of the 17th c.
Occasionally in Art, where there was a strong tendency towards social realism, voices of poor can be heard. Louis Le Nain, greatest and most compassionate of this school, painted the woman here in about 1645. It is...
Grafting. An illuminated capital letter is one of the many works on fruit growing written during the middle ages: It illustrates one of the routine tasks of the cultivator--grafting-- a routine which has changed little even today.
Lucas van Leyden, The Dentist
From Moxey's discussion of ""Festive Peasants and Social Order,"" and his interpretation of the dentist who appears in Beham's Large Peasant Holiday, pp. 51-57: The image {here, of a...
Sebald Beham, The Nose Dance at Fools' Town
From Moxey's discussion of ""Festive Peasants and Social Order"", on the meaning of scenes of drinking and dancing peasants at a church annivesary festivel, pp. 43-47: Other...
