A Fool with bees, a motif, which also appears at the Leber Rouen Tarocchi in the form of a soldier, is a detail at one of the 4 "Augsburger Monatsbilder" (now in a Berlin Museum).



which is a detail of this picture part (January)



which is a detail of this season



In the exhibition of the Museum the 4 pictures are arranged at the 4 walls of a room, possibly in the manner, as they were shown in their original context (?). They are in reality not so impressive, as one might imagine, that they are - just my private evaluation (I'd opportunity to see them), inside the large Museums of nowadays they look surprizing "small".
The size is 214 x 352,5cm. Januar-März. 228 x 341,6cm. April-Juni. 227,5 x 362cm. Juli-September. 227,5 x 353cm. Oktober-Dezember.
They were made ca. 1530, there are discussions about the true artist, who made the most motifs according to "Scheibenrisse", which the Augsburg painter Jörg Breu d. Ä. made ca. 1525 in commission of the Augsburg family Höchstetter.

http://www.dhm.de/ausstellungen/kurzweil/season.htm

I think, that the players scene refers to the week between christmas and new year and the usual festivities then, so not strictly "January". Actually the shield "January" is arranged in a manner, that one could interprete the playing scene as "short before January".
The ideal representation of the year would be in a round room, which naturally would have same difficul practical implications ... .-)

Well I think these 'pictures' are wonderful!(Are they paintings or a rescued fresco?)
Firstly they appear to be gambling for money (or would that be buttons?) Women playing for money?
The checkerboard is short some squares? 36 squares? What is that game?
It appears the fellow who needs to play next is following with another two -of acorns?
Can you explain why the Bee would be a usual motif for a fool?
and what is that thing with the cat on top? A circular wine rack? A Furnace?
I was surprised not to see a fire for January-ish although most seem to have warm clothes on.

Thank you.
~Lorredan

Lorredan wrote:Well I think these 'pictures' are wonderful!(Are they paintings or a rescued fresco?)
Firstly they appear to be gambling for money (or would that be buttons?) Women playing for money?
The checkerboard is short some squares? 36 squares? What is that game?
It appears the fellow who needs to play next is following with another two -of acorns?
Can you explain why the Bee would be a usual motif for a fool?
and what is that thing with the cat on top? A circular wine rack? A Furnace?
I was surprised not to see a fire for January-ish although most seem to have warm clothes on.

Thank you.
~Lorredan

It's a painting, not a fresco - but as painting already based on models made with another technique. Women playing for money is not unusual in this time, neither in Italy nor in German. The chequerboard is either reducement of the painter or really a special game, I don't know.
I don't know, how you make a two-of-acorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn) of this card, it's Grün (green) or Laub (leave) and nowadays French Pique, also called "Schippen" in Germany, what is a tool for digging, also called "Spaten" and which should be an equevalent to "Spades" cause of common German roots in English language. An acorn as suit sign looks this way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suit_%28cards%29



Others think, that the expression "Spades" develops from the Latin suits and the expression descended from a word for swords. This opinion is farspread and usually presented as a reliable "proven fact", made by people, which not very often speak German or play German card games.

... .-) ... acorn generally is a difficult term, cause "Ahorn" (Latin Acer) in German is NOT acorn, but a totally different tree-family with a totally different leave. And the German card symbol (English idiotical acorn) is the fruit of the oak tree, German "Eichel", after the tree "Eiche" , which is probably so called, as the fruit is similar to an "Ei" (Ei-Eichel-Eiche), which is an English "egg", cause the English "eye" was for English people not usable as expression, as they already used their "eyes" for that, what the German call "Auge" (latin augere = "to see"), which on the other hand is similar to English "oak".
And it's even worse ... "Eckern", which in speach sounds precisely like "Acorn", are in German the fruits of the English "Common Beech" - another totally different tree and very important in Germany, cause there are many of them.

... ... You English are a little bit confused, isn't it? So please don't use "Acorn" in my presence for a German suit, which has an own German name called "Eichel", you confuse the people ... .-) ... especially when the mentioned card isn't an Eichel card, but "Grün" or "Laub" and the designed leave more or less objectively is taken from a "Linde" (English "lime" and even "basswood"), which in heraldic form took this outfit: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linde_%28Heraldik%29
... .-)

bees etc
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This was earlier discussed at other place in Aeclectic (try the search engine). Also Michael had referred to the discussion in two larger articles:
http://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

cat
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The cat is on a green "Kachelofen". You don't see fire in a Kachelofen, but it's a good technique to get warm feet.

Thanks for more information and iconography of the Fool linked with bees (or flies sometimes).

Michael wrote a long post on his blog about flies/bees and the Leber-Rouen Fool:
http://pre-gebelin.blogspot.com/2009/04 ... rrior.html

He did not find those great German examples though.