October — Sowing Before the Louvre

A peasant broadcasts seed by hand across a freshly harrowed field while another drives a horse-drawn harrow behind him — and in the field's corner, a bow-armed scarecrow figure stands guard against the crows, a small human touch amid the labor. Beyond the Seine, the old medieval Louvre — a turreted royal fortress that would later be entirely rebuilt, making this one of its few surviving detailed images — anchors the scene in real, dateable Paris. The zodiac lunette carries Virgo into Libra. October's combination of unglamorous labor and precise urban record-keeping makes it one of the calendar's most historically valuable folios, independent of its beauty.

Maker

The Limbourg Brothers (Herman, Paul & Jean de Limbourg); later folios completed by Jean Colombe

Date

c. 1412–1416

Medium of the original

Illuminated manuscript

Original held by

Musée Condé, Chantilly

Credit

Musée Condé, Chantilly · via Wikimedia Commons

Rights

Public domain, verified

Catalogue number

PA-00914