The Hours of Joanna I of Castile

Capricorn is depicted in the form of a walking goat. The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady is represented underneath, symbolically or indirectly, by the embrace of Saint Anne and Saint Joachim before the Golden Gate. St Nicasius appears before the cloth of honour in bishop´s vestments with his detached head, still with a mitre, in his hands.
Depicted in the bottom section in a slight snowfall is the slaughter, a theme that appears in most illustrated calendars. The meat provided the fatty foodstuff necessary to survive the winter and was also the delicacy chosen for the mealtimes at Christmas. Inside a shed, a woman lights an oven whilst another works the salt to be used to preserve the animal´s flesh without losing too much flavour.

In the second image, of a countryside completed blanketed in snow, there is a noble´s castle, with a bridge giving access to the inside.

Carlos Miranda García-Tejedor
Doctor in History