The Hours of Charles of Angoulême

The scene Robinet Testard chose to represent the month of June, under the sign of the zodiac Cancer, was more traditional than those of April and May. It continues the review of the farming and country work that began in March with vine pruning. In a rather timeless field delimited in the background by rocky mounds, four peasants mow the wheat. The two men armed with scythes cut the ears at the bottom. The figure on the right reflects Testard’s fondness for rear portraits, seen previously in the month of March. The two women hold forks to heap the mown ears into piles.

Maxence Hermant
Curator – Bibliothèque nationale de France