New Book by Yoko Mori

Bruegel’s 'Cycle of the Seasons' and Traditional Representations of the Months

Bruegel’s 'Cycle of the Seasons' and Traditional Representation of the Months
Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2022. 596 pp. 401 figures (in Japanese)

The Table of the Contents

Dedication The Royal Academy of Archaeology of Belgium

Chapter I.: Illuminated Several Monthly Activities of High Class and Labors of Peasants in the Breviaries and the Books of Hours in Northern Europe
Chapter II.: The Sixteenth Century-German Prints of the Twelve Months : Hans Sebald Beham, Workshop of Beham, Follower of Beham, Franz Isaac Brun and Jost Amman
Chapter III.: The Sixteenth Century-Paintings of Citzen’s Life
A. The Clock and Calendar Indicator ‘s Panel Painting (Leuven)
B. Augsburg’s Paintings of the Twelve Months (Berlin)
Chapter IV.: The Proverbial Images of Monthly Representations
Chapter V.: Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Preparatory Drawings, Spring and Summer and the Flemish Tradition of Monthly Representations
Chapter VI.: Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Cycle of the Seasons: The Gloomy Day, The Haymaking, The Harvesters, The Return of the Herd, The Hunters in the Snow. Bruegel’s Observation on the Peasant.
Chapter VII.: Post Bruegel’s Paintings and Prints of the Twelve Months: Alkmaar Master of Twelve Months, Maarten and Lucas van Valckenborch’s Twelve Months Paintings, Maarten de Vos’s Twelve Months Prints, Jan van de Velde II’s Twelve Months Prints, Cornelis Dusart’s Twelve Months Prints
Stephan Kessler’s Twelve Months Paintings at the Feast Hall in Monastry Benediktbeuern
Appendix: The Recent Research on Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
First published list
Epilogue
Footnotes
Bibliography
Photographic Credits
Index

Extracts from the Book Review

Professor Kayo Hirakawa, Kyoto University
Tosho Shimbun, Feb. 18, 2023, no.3579

This book is perfect to understand various activities of Bruegel’s peasants depicted in Bruegel's Cycle of the Seasons. In addition to the Netherlands, where Bruegel was active, Mori has expanded her research field to collect the images of monthly as well as seasonal labors and pastimes in German and French paintings and prints as Bruegel’s pictorial background. She identifies the images of most of agricultural activities with their detailed work content using specific tools . In addition to her vast amounts of research in art history and folklore, she has gained knowledge through interviews with the present winemaker. It is exhilarating to follow her persuasive interpretations of our often unnoticed detailed agricultural works in his paintings.
（partly translated from the English translation)　

Aki Hirokawa, Lecturer, Kokugakuin University
Revue Belge d' Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Art, Oct. 2023, pp. 196-204.

This marvellous book, Bruegel’s “Cycle of the Seasons” and Traditional Representation of the Months, is dedicated to the Royal Academy of Archaeology of Belgium by the author. This publication confirms the authority of Dr Yoko Mori in the field of Bruegel studies. Based on extensive research and systematic analysis of the vast array of material and iconography accu- mulated over more than five decades, Mori sheds new light on the depiction of the seasonal labours of peasants in Bruegel’s “Cycle of the Seasons”. The author has approached the task with scrupulous care, striving to expound the intricate themes and motifs observed in Bruegel’s works in a way that can be readily understood by modern Japanese readers who are culturally and historically removed from the context in which these paintings were produced. Her capacity to elucidate the intricacies of the subject matter through detailed analysis and compelling argu- ments, including observations on the agricultural instruments and tools used in various regions, epitomises the qualities expected of an exceptional art historian.
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