Instructor: The Four Seasons: Winter.
In a departure from all the previous prints,
the man has turned his back to the viewer
and the woman in right profile
is in the act of stepping down
into a grave scattered with bones.
Both hold flasks.
The woman is discharging the contents of hers,
which is identified as melancholia, or black bile.
The sun and the moon are in their respective corners.
Beneath the calendrical and zodiacal arches,
a crane holds the banner for Hyems.
An olive, or perhaps mistletoe,
and a dormant, or dead, tree complete the frame.
There are no animals in this print
but four human figures in the background
are engaged in a variety of domestic activities.
The tobacco plant growing from behind the geographic map
of the Americas, is out of season,
but does reflect the connection with the New World.
Only the man, the woman, and the map conceal further layers.
Arches.
Counting from the top down,
the arches record the stellar phases,
signs of the zodiac, a calendar scale,
three types of months,
and the motion of the moon for the season.
The sun has no flap to lift.
The moon, which has no flap to lift,
is in the dark or new phase.
Crane.
The crane, carrying a stone, is a symbol of vigilance.
The Trees of Winter.
This tree has been interpreted as an olive
or as mistletoe growing on a host tree, often an oak.
Either would fit within the context of the print.
Leaves of the olive tree were used
before the advent of coffins
as a bed as well as a cover for the dead in the grave.
The mistletoe was used medicinally to alleviate the ills
of old age.
The leafless tree can be interpreted
as either dead or deciduous.
If the latter, the oak would be particularly apt.
Often used for coffins, the oak was known
as the tree of the dead.
Its leaf galls were used to cure melancholia.
Flask.
One flask contains melancholia or black bile,
which rules cold and humid conditions.
Man.
49 years.
Full flap, posterior view, conceals successive layers
of body systems.
Verso of flap repeats an image
from elsewhere in Hyems.
Vascular system.
Muscular system with small flaps
for trapezius muscle
of shoulder and neck and gluteus maximum muscle of buttock.
Details of deeper muscle groups
with multiple small flaps
for muscles at base of skull,
the cranium, deltoid muscle, and muscles along spine.
Skeletal system with flaps for base of skull and scapula.
Handwriting visible underneath left edge of skull.
Woman: estimated 42 years.
Right sagittal view
with surface muscles conceals successive layers
of vascular system.
Verso of flap repeats an image from elsewhere in Hyems.
Arterial system borrowed from male.
Note spermatic vein and venous plexus from testicles.
Handwriting visible on verso of paper used
to repair neck of previous flap.
Detail of vascular system of brain.
Venous system on verso of previous flap.
Handwriting visible underneath torso and small toe flap.
Geographic Map.
Map depicts North and South America,
which corresponds with the figures
of native peoples in the background.
Verso of flap repeats an image
from elsewhere in Hyems.
Rectum.
Handwriting visible underneath rectum.
Grave.
The bones are not relatively scaled.
The lower jawbone appears the same size as a tooth.