The Months: January

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 January, two heads of Janus, root of the word January, in the summit of the frame (instead of the astrological sign of the month). The other elements in the frame illustrate the second verse in the inscription: fire, represented by fire torches, on the upper part of the frame, and a below, on the lower right corner, and the forthcoming nature, in the form of roots and turnips, in baskets on the bottom corners. On the sides of the frame, a male and a female figure, both dressed with classical draped garments, stand holding up the fire torches and a bundle of firewood standing on their scrolling legs. Above them, are two eyeless face masks.



The scene inside the frame is divided in two parts, the first of them, consisting of an interior scene, occupying two-thirds of the space, on the right side of the print. A man and a woman are sitting at a table, wearing sumptuous contemporary clothing, with a fireplace behind them. In front of them is a group of people in costumes while, in the background, a group of musicians are playing in a balcony. On the floor, at the sides of the table, are an ewer and a cat, symbols of the comfort of the domestic scene. The second part of the scene, on the left, consists of an exterior episode, flanked by the sign of Aquarius, usually associated with this month, and describes the storms endured by the poor during the cold months: a boy sitting on the floor eating roots, a woman next to him breaking ice to get water, half-dressed men in the background, one of them trying to light a small fire.



The comparison between the lifestyle of the wealthy and that of the poor seems to have a moral allusion in this print, even though it is not represented in the text. The iconography in the main scene is closely related to the iconography of medieval representations of the labors of the month, the interior scene similar to the representation of January in the "Compost et Kalendrier des Bergers." A similar scene, seemingly without a moral allusion, is part of another set of representations of the months by Delaune, of smaller scale.