Published : 2023-12-29

On the Importance of Human Relationships towards Nature Based On Scenes of Labours of the Months in Medieval Codes

Abstract

Selected scenes of Labours of the Months depict the world of nature, with which Medieval man remained in very close and multi-faceted relations, depended on it, but could also use it consciously, subjugating it. The article presents scenes from calendar works in miniature painting which can be interpreted as pro-environment mindsets. The article fits into the trend of currently discussed humanistic ecology, and broadly understood human ecology. The goal of this work is to portray, on chosen examples, selected Labours of the Months, actions, as well as garden and agricultural solutions which today can be recognised as pro-environment. The text is also an attempt to determine what expediency led to using particular methods of providing care to plants, crops, as well as the manner of arranging the spaces of fields and gardens perpetuated on the pages of codices. The text also indicates the possibility to interpret Labours of the Months in their metaphorical message, in reference to biblical symbolysm of such scenes as arable farming, sowing, or providing care to a vineyard. What is more, attention was payed to the social-historical context of these depictions in which the characteristics of social relations were hidden, i.e. betwen the working class and nobility, as well as the axiology of work.

Keywords:

ecology, iconography, labors of the months, medieval calendars, miniatures, nature, sowing, vineyard



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Roczniki Kulturoznawcze · ISSN 2082-8578 | eISSN 2544-5219 | DOI: 10.18290/rkult

© Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II


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