17386 January

January TAP17386-1

One of the famous
Renaissance series of
depictions of the months
after designs by Maitre
Lucas, who has tentatively
been identified as Lucas
van Nevele, a painter in
Brussels. In 1666, the
Emperor Leopold I
commissioned the
Viennese merchant,
Bartholome Triangl, to buy
the Viennese series. This
was probably occasioned
by the Emperor's marriage
to the Infanta Margarita
Teresa of Spain. The
depicted couple, moving
past the viewer with a lit
torch accompanied by
musicians and a jester, are
probably connected to
New Year's Eve rites and
rituals. The double-faced
god, Janus, who looks
forward and backwards
simultaneously,
symbolising both the
beginning and the end of
the year, represents
January.

Size

70cm x 85cm

140cm x 170cm