Tapestry 'September, October' (from 'Seasons of the Year' set)

The tapestry 'September, October' illustrating the theme of the seasons is part of the larger series "Seasons of the Year". This type of fabric became popular in Europe at the end of 15th century. The content and composition of the tapestry reflect in detail the daily life of people in the early autumn - work and entertainment outside the city and the territory of the castle.
The composition of a horizontal rectangle format depicts harvest work mixed in with preparation for a hunt and hunting scenes. The spacious panoramic scene features human and animal figures and nature motifs – even compositional elements create a decorative and elegant rhythm in the textile. A sundrenched meadow is depicted in the first plane, rhythmically segmented by single trees, bushes and grasses. In its centre there is a fallen tree, two speckled birds and a hound watching them. On the right-hand side we see ladies out for the day in the natural surroundings and a youth lying in the meadow. On the left a hunter dressed in a red chiton carrying a bow, two hunting dogs and an otter catching a bird (?). The landscapes are separated in foreground and background by a pond surrounded by reeds with a duck and an otter swimming about. Smaller hunting scenes pictured around the pond. The background features harvest work. On the right two women placing grapes into a barrel and a child sits nearby. To their left a pair of men - one is carrying a barrel on his back, the second is pouring the picked grapes into a barrel. In the centre of the composition there is a scene depicting horses with two men that are pouring grape juice into a large barrel. A little lower - two figures pressing grape juice in a barrel. The grape harvest scenes are concluded by a vineyard with people picking grapes in the top right part of the tapestry. A little further is a shed with barrels. Hay stacks and boy with a bow are portrayed in the centre of the composition.
The background in left side is dedicated to the apple harvest scenes: two women with baskets filled with apples on their heads leading a child by the hand, men climbing ladders up into trees, women holding baskets, a woman and two children pouring apples onto a pile. On the left is a group of hunters talking amongst themselves. Behind the harvest scenes there is a landscape with town elements, further afield – a glade and another town, the contours of which stand out against the sky backdrop.