The New Murrey and Blue blog

Boating parties in the Merry Month of May….

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There must have been a brisk trade in illustrations of boating parties in the Merry Month of May…and Flemish painter Simon Bening (circa 1483-1561) stepped up to the mark!

Da Costa Hours, in Latin Illuminated by Simon Bening (1483/84–1561) Belgium, Bruges, ca. 1515

Mind you, I’m a little perturbed as to how the good Simon managed to paint the above in 1575 if he died in 1561.

Simon Bening again
Boat Trip, May calender illustration from a Book of Hours by Simon Bening (1483-1561). Watercolour on vellum. Flanders, 1510-1560.

I suppose the archery is taking place in the town square in the background?

And finally this one:-

from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simon_Bening_-_Mai.jpg

May Day and celebrations associated with it were a very big deal in the medieval period, and since writing this I have learned much more. I intend to write about it all, although I’m not sure when this will be.

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  1. Cyuen G. Avatar
    Cyuen G.

    The archery is taking place in the border of the image! 🙂

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  2. sighthound6 Avatar
    sighthound6

    I was writing about it myself the other day. It was indeed a very big celebration, no doubt people were so glad to have the winter behind them. Young people would, for example, wander off into the woods to – er – gather flowers.

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  3. viscountessw Avatar
    viscountessw

    I can’t imagine why else they would go into the woods, Sighthound. 😄

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