XI.—On Mediæval Representations of the Months and Seasons

Extract

None of the phenomena of Nature can earlier, or more widely, or more deeply have attracted notice and curiosity than the phenomena of the Seasons ; and none, probably, earlier or more widely became embodied in art and poetry. For that reason few subjects, probably, would prove of greater interest in themselves, or in the light which they reflected, incidentally, on the life and thought of those who have gone before us, if undertaken by an accomplished antiquary, than the enumeration, and description, and comparison of the different modes of representing the Seasons employed in different countries and ages, from the earliest to the latest times. Few subjects, on the other hand, could be chosen less fit for unexhaustive or discursive treatment, or that would sooner exhibit the incompetence of him who is incapable of more. I would willingly, however, bear this reflection, should the notes which I have collected be thought worthy of the attention of this Society, or should they, imperfect as they are, hereafter induce others, more able than myself, to contribute what they have seen and thought upon the subject.