The Très Riches Heures we discussed this week intrigued me because of the many cultural clues it offers. “January ~ February” shows the nobles feasting and celebrating, while the peasants are out in the cold, laboring. Upon closer inspection, significant differences become even clearer. Take the animals in the images, for example. The right hand bottom corner of the image of the nobles shows a well-fed dog, perhaps getting affection or even food from an owner. Meanwhile, the mule at the top of the image of the peasants is walking uphill in the snow, carrying a heavy load. It is interesting how the animals themselves take on the status and activities of the people around them, demonstrating the clear-cut separation between the two classes. The concept of clothing also fascinates me. We see a lot of blue being worn in these depictions, yet how they are worn makes an important statement. While the image on the left shows wealthy nobles in long, flattering, rich blue outfits, the image on the right attempts to mock the peasants, who wear the same colors but appear to be slightly exposing themselves or wearing clothing that doesn’t fit properly. I find the Très Riches Heures extremely informative about what types of separation occurred in the 1400s.
