Cleveland Museum of Art

Leaf from a Book of Hours: Calendar Page for May (recto)

Date: c. 1510
Medium: ink, tempera and liquid gold on vellum
Culture: France, Rouen, 16th century
Department: Medieval Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art

This calendar page from a book of hours shows the month of May with an illumination of the labor of the month, falconry, the popular medieval sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. A couple rides through the forest, a falcon on the man’s outstretched arm. May is also associated with fertility rites, and the next scene shows the amorous couple on a break from the hunt. Below are saint days honored in May. May 5th’s inclusion of Saint Audoennus, who was popular in Rouen, helps indicate that this book was made for use in that city. It is believed that medieval men and women read their books of hours aloud, not silently.

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