The Portraits of the Months of the Miranda do Douro Cathedral

In the sacristy of Miranda do Douro Cathedral there is an important set of twelve small paintings, dating from the second half of the 16th century, where the Portraits of the Months are kept. Commonly known as the Calendar, the set is a very rare example of an iconography that is practically absent in Portuguese artistic heritage.

The paintings are now (re)discovered by Vítor Serrão, who attributes them to the workshop of artist Pieter Balten, friend and partner of the famous Pieter Brueghel, the Elder. Painted in Antwerp, the twelve small paintings on wood evoke rural daily life through representations of the most characteristic aspects of agricultural work corresponding to each month, in close connection with their astrological symbolism, without, however, ceasing to be devotional paintings.