Grey Matters

January’s iconography has no precedent in Pierre Reymond’s artworks. If the theme already exists, it is not directly inspired by Etienne Delaune’s engravings figuring Occupations of the Months while these etchings are the main source of inspiration for the Month’s iconography in Limoges. On the back side, the Caesar’s profile is probably inspired by engravings that represent Roman emperors realized by Hubert Goltzius, published in France in 1559, or by the ones made by Marcantonio Raimondi.

The exceptional hunting iconography of April is the second known example of its kind. The first one is a plate, dated around 1560, by Pierre Courteys (fig.1). If some details are different, such as birds in the sky or the four dogs instead of two, the composition is similar.[1] The model of this iconography is unidentified yet. On the back side, the man in profile is comparable to a medallion housed in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunschweig Kunstmuseum des Landes Niedersachsen in Brunswick (fig.2).[2]

The rims of both plates are comparable to the one of a plate housed in the Wallace Collection (inv. C.583) dated 1577 or later and attributed to Pierre Reymond’s workshop (fig.3).[3] Cornucopias and scrolled foliage as well as the use of gold are similar on our plate. However, the rim of the plate in the Wallace Collection is adorned with putti with flesh tones.