November, from "The Months" 1575 - 1585

Editor: So, this is Adriaen Collaert's "November," likely created sometime between 1575 and 1585. It's an engraving, so a print, and it immediately strikes me as bleak, but also really lively! It is incredibly detailed and somewhat foreboding. What stands out to you most in this work? Curator: Well, firstly, I’m transported. Aren't you? It’s not just an image, is it? It's a portal. Think of the world then – before electric heat, before Amazon. November was *real*. The engraving captures not just a scene, but a truth about existence, a kind of pre-industrial grit. How do you read that interplay between human activity and the natural world? Editor: I see what you mean. There's so much... going on! People chopping wood, hauling logs, even a little figure climbing a tree. The contrast is fascinating, almost a celebration of work, yet against the backdrop of this bare, almost mournful landscape. Does the circular composition add anything to that feeling? Curator: Absolutely! It’s containing, cyclical. Seasons turning. Life continuing, inexorably. Consider also that little zodiac sign floating above, Sagittarius—a symbolic overlay reminding us that their labours, all this "doing," is still very much influenced by a grand, cosmic "being". Don't you feel that sense of pre-destination lurking? Editor: Definitely a reminder of our place in a larger scheme! I guess I came in thinking it was just a bleak landscape, but I see now it’s so much more complex. Thanks! Curator: And thank you. It is a nice reminder that "bleak" isn't necessarily "empty," and that even November holds a wealth of narrative if we bother to look closely.