Il Ciclo di Mesi - Maggio

This is the last of the Ciclo di Mesi from the Castello del Buonconsiglo in Trento or at least this is last of the cycle that I began posting past June. And coming full circle - uno ciclo - it ends with the courting ritual that will give way to the bridal parties of June. Gallants make love to their ladies as garlands are woven, songs are sung and... yes the peasants continue their labours!

01 maggio - San Riccardo Pampuri

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Aprile

The hard work of breaking the still frozen earth and seeding begins - the labours of the peasants continuing throughout the Cycle. Meanwhile the ladies of the court play at gardening while some of their friends stroll in the countryside.

01 aprile - Sant'Ugo di Grenoble

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Marzo

When I first started posting the great fresco Cycle of the Months in Castello del Buonconsiglo I mentioned that there was no panel for March. Sadly less than a hundred years after the Master of Bohemia had finished his work it was felt that a staircase was more important than some old painting. There is no indication of what, in the Prince Archbishop's fanciful world, the activities of nobles and peasants would have been in what has often been described as the cruelest month.

The Cycle will continue once the winds of March have given way to the rains of April. In the meantime a click on the drawing of the Castello will lead you to the slideshow of the previous months.

01 Marzo - San Rosendal

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Febbraio

Being the shortest month of the year, it may be only fitting that February is a smaller fresco over a doorway. In the Prince Archbishop's world it was the month for jousting and tournaments. Again the nobles are at play as the peasants mop up the blood and dung on the playing field.

01 febbraio - Santa Verdiana

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Gennaio

This has to be my favorite of all the frescos in the Torre - snowball fights are nothing new.

01 gennaio - Maria Santissima Madre di Dio

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Dicembre

As the nobles warm themselves indoors or head on on a canter through the forest, the peasants hew and haul the wood to keep the Archepiscopal fires burning.

01 decembre - Sant'Eligio

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Novembre

As the cold of winter sets in and the ground becomes hard the nobles head out for the hunt - it appears that a bear and her cubs are their target - while the peasants act as beaters or herd the pigs that will be meat for the winter into the castle.

01 novembre - Ognisanti

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Ottobre

As the cold winds begin to blow through the valleys of the Dolomites, the grape harvest is pressed and the vineyards prepared for the winter. I'm not sure what the aristos are doing in this one - other than tasting the wine. But then that's what aristos do, isn't it?



01 ottobre - Santa Teresa di Lisieux

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Settembre

As the heat of the summer begins to abate in the north - Trento is located in the Dolomites - the nobles entertain themselves with falconry and the hunt. Meanwhile the peasants harvest the root vegetables that will become a winter staple and prepare the fields for next years crops.

01 settembre - Sant' Egidio abate

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Agosto

Things haven't changed all that much since 1400 - the August sun still blazes down as the idle gentry idle away their vacation in pleasant surroundings. As always the peasants toil under the contemplative eye of the meditative clergy. Those of us working in August know that feeling don't we?
01 agosto - San Alfonso

Il Ciclo di Mesi - Luglio

In Prince Archbishop Georg von Liechtenstein's world (1400)during the heat of July the nobles besported themselves in a cool grove beside a stream. The peasants, however, continue to toil under the hot sun.

01 luglio - San Secondino

Il Ciclo dei Mesi - Giugno

Even in 1400 the month of June seemed to be the favoured time for weddings - May having been the month for courting. In the lower foreground an richly dressed wedding party sets off on its way accompanied by musicians. Two nobles leave their elaborate stone castle bearing gifts for the bridal pair. In the upper background the peasants dressed in their rough homespuns milk the cows, carry the milk, churn the butter and shape the cheese, all of which will no doubt appear on the tables at the wedding feast.

In the cycle there is never any direct contact between the two worlds - Liechtenstein's view of the perfect Medieval world.

01 giugno - San Giustino

Trento - the Months Pass By

In 1545 the first session of the Council of Trent was convened in the capital of the Trentino-Alte Adige region of Italy. An attempt by the Roman Catholic Church to institute reforms that would encourage breakaway groups - in particular German Protestants - to return to Mother Church, it was held in various venues throughout Trento over an 8 year period. That event still has resonance in modern day Trento, a charming city with a beautiful Romanesque Duomo, the richly decorated Castello del Buonconsiglio, streets lined with splendid Renaissance mansions, a fascinating Diocesan Museum and at least two great restaurants that we found in the two days we were there. Plus it is surrounded by the snow capped Dolomites.


You may have noticed the ceramic on the sidebar - or maybe not, I'm never sure if people notice that sort of thing - its one of a series depicting the months of the year hanging in the B&B - Maso Wallenburg - we stayed at just on the outskirts of the city. It is a working vineyard and winery and though ideally a car is needed we found taxis readily available and inexpensive. And on two occasions the very personable hosts - Eugene and Bruna - offered to drive us into town. The charming series of plates on the wall of the breakfast room present happy peasants engaged in the activities deemed appropriate for the month. A click on the little guy at the right shows he is harvesting the spring wheat crop - an activity you can still see on the train ride up though in a more modern form.

In the Months fesco cycle at Castello del Buonconsiglio small twisted columns separate the panels giving the impression of an open loggia allowing you to observe the peasants at work and the nobles at play in landscapes that changes as the seasons pass.

The months of the year was a reoccurring theme in Trento - perhaps reflecting the agrarian culture that has always been important to the area. The Torre Aquila of the Castello houses one of the most original and celebrated fresco cycles of the Months in Italy. Dating from 1400, it was commissioned by Prince-Bishop Georg von Liechtenstein probably from a Bohemian artist. It is an extremely idealised view of the Prince's feudal world depicting the activities of eleven months of the year (March was lost when a staircase was cut into the wall of the tower.) Always in the foreground nobles - large figures, slender, splendidly dressed - play, dance, sing, joust or court. In the background the smaller peasant figures toil endlessly at their tasks according to the months of the year.

I thought I would post a panel at the beginning of every month - what I'll do in March I'll worry about next February. The first panel will appear later today.

01 giugno - San Giustino