Medieval and Renaissance Shovels and Spades

	Shovels & Spades
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Spade shoe from Braives, c. 1-499 Spade shoe from the Roman fort at Rough Castle, c. 140-165 March, a psalter (St. John's College MS K.30, fol. 2r), c. 1190-1200 Spade carved from a single piece of ash, with a handle probably made of walnut, with an off-set blade, 12th-15th century Reconstruction of a 13th century spade with a photo of an example from the Kultuhistorisches Museum Stralsund Wooden spade dating from the medieval period, found in Preston, 13th-16th century March, psalter (Douce 49, fol. 5r), end of the 13th century Cain kills Abel, La Somme le Roi (Bibl. Mazarine 870, fol. 103), 1295 Parts of a spade shoe from Urquhart Castle, 13th-17th centuries An angel holds a shovel, the Maastricht Hours (Brit. Lib. Stowe 17, fol. 31v), 1st quarter of the 14th century Cain slays Abel, History of the Holy Grail (BNF Fr. 105, fol. 65v), first half of the 14th century Adam, The Holkham Bible Picture Book (Brit. Lib. Add. 47682, fol. 4v), c. 1320-1330 Cain kills Abel, Bible historiale (BNF Fr. 8, fol. 11), c. 1320-1330 Adam and Eve (fol. 1) and Cain killing Abel (fol. 11v), Bible historiale (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève 20), c. 1320-1337 Adam, the Taymouth Hours (Brit. Lib. Yates Thompson 13, fol. 23v), 2nd quarter of the 14th century Cain killing Abel, Bible historiale (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève 22, fol. 11v), c. 1330 Fol. 69r, The Romance of Alexander (Bodley 264), c. 1338-1344 God calls on Cain to account for his deed, Bible historiale (MMW 10 B 23), 1372 Cain slays Abel with a spade, Bible historiale (KB 78 D 43, fol. 9r), c. 1375 God, angels, and fallen angels, The City of God (BNF Fr. 20, fol. 238v), beginning of the 15th century Horseradish, Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Latin 9333, fol. 49), 15th century Dispute among Satan's henchmen, Books of Modus and Ratio (BNF Fr. 1297, fol. 150v), first quarter of the 15th century Detail from the construction of the cloister of St. Leonhard, c. 1400-1450 A standing saint holding a shovel, Prayers to the Saints (British Library Egerton 859, fol. 25), c. 1420-1425 Noli me tangere from an altarpiece with scenes of the Passion of Christ, c. 1425-1430 Several in the Mendel Hausbuch, including Staud (c. 1425), Jobs Tagwercker (c. 1425), Hans Pheuffer (1456), Hanß Müllner genannt Heyliger gaist (1554), Stephan Krapff (1554), Andres Mulner (1570), Lienhartt Stainbach (1584) Burial, a book of hours (PML M.453, fol. 133v), c. 1425-1430 Noli me tangere, The Life of Christ (ÖNB 485, fol. 71v), c. 1425-1435 Miners, De casibus (BNF Fr. 232, fol. 105v), second quarter of the 15th century Cecco Angiolieri, The Decameron (BNF Fr. 239, fol. 251v), second quarter of the 15th century Ranks of society: the laboring class, Des cas des nobles hommes (British Library Royal 18 D VII, fol. 2), c. 1440 Details at lower left and upper left of St. Helena finding the True Cross, c. 1440-1445 Grave-digging, a book of hours (PML M.202, fol. 88v), c. 1440-1449 Men shoveling chairs (Scupstoel) (Met 1975.1.848), circle of Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1444-1450 As a spade hath thre partys, þat is, a scho, an heued, & an handyll, so þis spade pouert in spirite … doth thre thynges. Jacob's Well Salisbury Cathedral Library 174 St. Fiacre of Meaux holding a book and a spade, Hours of Philip of Burgundy (KB 76 F 2, fol. 272r), c. 1450-1460 Planting a garden, Livre des prouffitz champestres et ruraulx (BNF Arsenal 5064, fol. 151v), third quarter of the 15th century The reconstruction of Troy (fol. 114v) and the construction of Rome (fol. 134v), Fleur des histoires (Bibl. Mazarine 1559), third quarter of the 15th century Shovel head, found in Coleorton, 1450-1600 Detail from the construction of the cloister of St. Leonhard, c. 1452-1461 St. Fiacre of Meaux holding a book and a spade, Hours of Simon de Varie (KB 74 G 37, fol. 85r), c. 1455 Noli me tangere, a psalter (ÖNB 1775, fol. 95v), c. 1455-1465 Noli me tangere, c. 1460 Saint Fiacre, Book of the Priors of Lorette d'Herbeviller (BNF Latin 13279, fol. 62v), c. 1460-1466 Noli me tangere by Friedrich Herlin, 1462 The funeral of Isaac (fol. 39v), the funeral of Moses (fol. 133v), and construction of the Temple (fol. 239r), world chronicle (ÖNB 2823), 1463 Cain kills Abel (fol. 1), Noah cultivates the grapevine (fol. 32), Roboam and his subjects (fol. 79v), the siege of Kyzikos (fol. 169v), Noli me tangere (fol. 233), Speculum historiale (BNF Fr. 50), 1463 The raising of Lazarus and a burial from a book of hours (PML M.1003, fol. 153v), c. 1465 Salvaging from the ashes, Konzil von Konstanz (ÖNB 3044, fol. 82r), c. 1465-1475 Yda’s corpse is buried, Schachzabelbuch (WLB Cod. poet. 2, fol. 233), 1467 February, the Hours of Jean Robertlet (PML M.834, fol. 2r), c. 1470 Funeral: burial after the ceremony, the Hours of Louis de Laval (BNF Latin 920, fol. 200v), c. 1470-1475 An orchard (fol. 28) and a garden (fol. 208), Rustican (British Library Royal 14 E VI), 1473-1483? June (fol. 5r) and Saturn (fol. 20r), and Noli me tangere (fol. 112r), Biblia Pauperum (ÖNB 3085), 1475 Cain slays Abel with a spade, The City of God (MMW 10 A 11, fol. 430v), c. 1475-1480 March, the Hours of Sir John Donne (Université Catholique de Louvain A2, fol. 3), c. 1480-1489 Christ as a gardener by Tilman Riemenschneider, c. 1483 Salvaging the relics of St. Felix, St. Regula, and St. Exuperantius, c. 1485-1495 Detail from Dance of Death frescoes at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje, 1490 Death holding a spear and a spade, looking into a mirror, a book of hours (KB 76 F 14, fol. 83r), c. 1490-1500 Detail from Christ Carrying the Cross, c. 1490-1500 Abdalonymos, History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 709, fol. 1), 15th-16th century Cain kills Abel (fol. 150,7) and Noli me tangere (fol. 310v), missal (Bibl. Mazarine 412), c. 1492 Detail from St. Helena finding the True Cross, c. 1495-1505 Arsenic, Jardin de Santé (Musée des Beaux-Arts DutuitB138), 16th century Grete laborer was I neuer, bodili ne gostli. I had neuer grete strengþe my3tli to laboure wiþ spade ne wiþ shouel. The Orcherd of Syon St. Fiacre of Meaux holding a spade and a book, a book of hours (KB 76 F 20, fol. 177v), c. 1500-1510 Noli me tangere (ÖNB 2752, fol. 135v), c. 1500-1525 Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen as a Gardener by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, 1507 March, Da Costa Hours (PML M.399, fol. 4v), c. 1515 Noli me tangere, c. 1515-1525 Arsenal in Innsbruck (ÖNB 10816, fol. 2v-3r), 1518 Christ the Gardener with a donor and Saint Louis, c. 1520 March, The Hennessy Hours (Bibl. Royale Albert ler MS II 158, fol. 3v), c. 1530-1540 A shovel used to remove ashes from ovens on the Mary Rose, 1545 Ore preparation, Schwazer Bergbuch (Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Dipl. 856), 1556 Detail from Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559 Spring by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565 Spring by Pieter Brueghel the Younger Memento mori memorare novissima by Johann Sadeler, c. 1580-1600 Sprign by Sebastiaen Vrancx

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Spade shoe from Braives, c. 1-499
Spade shoe from the Roman fort at Rough Castle, c. 140-165
March, a psalter (St. John's College MS K.30, fol. 2r), c. 1190-1200
Spade carved from a single piece of ash, with a handle probably made of walnut, with an off-set blade, 12th-15th century
Reconstruction of a 13th century spade with a photo of an example from the Kultuhistorisches Museum Stralsund
Wooden spade dating from the medieval period, found in Preston, 13th-16th century
March, psalter (Douce 49, fol. 5r), end of the 13th century
Cain kills Abel, La Somme le Roi (Bibl. Mazarine 870, fol. 103), 1295
Parts of a spade shoe from Urquhart Castle, 13th-17th centuries
An angel holds a shovel, the Maastricht Hours (Brit. Lib. Stowe 17, fol. 31v), 1st quarter of the 14th century
Cain slays Abel, History of the Holy Grail (BNF Fr. 105, fol. 65v), first half of the 14th century
Adam, The Holkham Bible Picture Book (Brit. Lib. Add. 47682, fol. 4v), c. 1320-1330
Cain kills Abel, Bible historiale (BNF Fr. 8, fol. 11), c. 1320-1330
Adam and Eve (fol. 1) and Cain killing Abel (fol. 11v), Bible historiale (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève 20), c. 1320-1337
Adam, the Taymouth Hours (Brit. Lib. Yates Thompson 13, fol. 23v), 2nd quarter of the 14th century
Cain killing Abel, Bible historiale (Bibl. Sainte-Geneviève 22, fol. 11v), c. 1330
Fol. 69r, The Romance of Alexander (Bodley 264), c. 1338-1344
God calls on Cain to account for his deed, Bible historiale (MMW 10 B 23), 1372
Cain slays Abel with a spade, Bible historiale (KB 78 D 43, fol. 9r), c. 1375
God, angels, and fallen angels, The City of God (BNF Fr. 20, fol. 238v), beginning of the 15th century
Horseradish, Tacuinum Sanitatis (BNF Latin 9333, fol. 49), 15th century
Dispute among Satan's henchmen, Books of Modus and Ratio (BNF Fr. 1297, fol. 150v), first quarter of the 15th century
Detail from the construction of the cloister of St. Leonhard, c. 1400-1450
A standing saint holding a shovel, Prayers to the Saints (British Library Egerton 859, fol. 25), c. 1420-1425
Noli me tangere from an altarpiece with scenes of the Passion of Christ, c. 1425-1430
Several in the Mendel Hausbuch, including Staud (c. 1425), Jobs Tagwercker (c. 1425), Hans Pheuffer (1456), Hanß Müllner genannt Heyliger gaist (1554), Stephan Krapff (1554), Andres Mulner (1570), Lienhartt Stainbach (1584)
Burial, a book of hours (PML M.453, fol. 133v), c. 1425-1430
Noli me tangere, The Life of Christ (ÖNB 485, fol. 71v), c. 1425-1435
Miners, De casibus (BNF Fr. 232, fol. 105v), second quarter of the 15th century
Cecco Angiolieri, The Decameron (BNF Fr. 239, fol. 251v), second quarter of the 15th century
Ranks of society: the laboring class, Des cas des nobles hommes (British Library Royal 18 D VII, fol. 2), c. 1440
Details at lower left and upper left of St. Helena finding the True Cross, c. 1440-1445
Grave-digging, a book of hours (PML M.202, fol. 88v), c. 1440-1449
Men shoveling chairs (Scupstoel) (Met 1975.1.848), circle of Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1444-1450

As a spade hath thre partys, þat is, a scho, an heued, & an handyll, so þis spade pouert in spirite … doth thre thynges.

Jacob's Well
Salisbury Cathedral Library 174

St. Fiacre of Meaux holding a book and a spade, Hours of Philip of Burgundy (KB 76 F 2, fol. 272r), c. 1450-1460
Planting a garden, Livre des prouffitz champestres et ruraulx (BNF Arsenal 5064, fol. 151v), third quarter of the 15th century
The reconstruction of Troy (fol. 114v) and the construction of Rome (fol. 134v), Fleur des histoires (Bibl. Mazarine 1559), third quarter of the 15th century
Shovel head, found in Coleorton, 1450-1600
Detail from the construction of the cloister of St. Leonhard, c. 1452-1461
St. Fiacre of Meaux holding a book and a spade, Hours of Simon de Varie (KB 74 G 37, fol. 85r), c. 1455
Noli me tangere, a psalter (ÖNB 1775, fol. 95v), c. 1455-1465
Noli me tangere, c. 1460
Saint Fiacre, Book of the Priors of Lorette d'Herbeviller (BNF Latin 13279, fol. 62v), c. 1460-1466
Noli me tangere by Friedrich Herlin, 1462
The funeral of Isaac (fol. 39v), the funeral of Moses (fol. 133v), and construction of the Temple (fol. 239r), world chronicle (ÖNB 2823), 1463
Cain kills Abel (fol. 1), Noah cultivates the grapevine (fol. 32), Roboam and his subjects (fol. 79v), the siege of Kyzikos (fol. 169v), Noli me tangere (fol. 233), Speculum historiale (BNF Fr. 50), 1463
The raising of Lazarus and a burial from a book of hours (PML M.1003, fol. 153v), c. 1465
Salvaging from the ashes, Konzil von Konstanz (ÖNB 3044, fol. 82r), c. 1465-1475
Yda’s corpse is buried, Schachzabelbuch (WLB Cod. poet. 2, fol. 233), 1467
February, the Hours of Jean Robertlet (PML M.834, fol. 2r), c. 1470
Funeral: burial after the ceremony, the Hours of Louis de Laval (BNF Latin 920, fol. 200v), c. 1470-1475
An orchard (fol. 28) and a garden (fol. 208), Rustican (British Library Royal 14 E VI), 1473-1483?
June (fol. 5r) and Saturn (fol. 20r), and Noli me tangere (fol. 112r), Biblia Pauperum (ÖNB 3085), 1475
Cain slays Abel with a spade, The City of God (MMW 10 A 11, fol. 430v), c. 1475-1480
March, the Hours of Sir John Donne (Université Catholique de Louvain A2, fol. 3), c. 1480-1489
Christ as a gardener by Tilman Riemenschneider, c. 1483
Salvaging the relics of St. Felix, St. Regula, and St. Exuperantius, c. 1485-1495
Detail from Dance of Death frescoes at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje, 1490
Death holding a spear and a spade, looking into a mirror, a book of hours (KB 76 F 14, fol. 83r), c. 1490-1500
Detail from Christ Carrying the Cross, c. 1490-1500
Abdalonymos, History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 709, fol. 1), 15th-16th century
Cain kills Abel (fol. 150,7) and Noli me tangere (fol. 310v), missal (Bibl. Mazarine 412), c. 1492
Detail from St. Helena finding the True Cross, c. 1495-1505
Arsenic, Jardin de Santé (Musée des Beaux-Arts DutuitB138), 16th century
Grete laborer was I neuer, bodili ne gostli. I had neuer grete strengþe my3tli to laboure wiþ spade ne wiþ shouel.
The Orcherd of Syon
St. Fiacre of Meaux holding a spade and a book, a book of hours (KB 76 F 20, fol. 177v), c. 1500-1510
Noli me tangere (ÖNB 2752, fol. 135v), c. 1500-1525
Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalen as a Gardener by Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen, 1507
March, Da Costa Hours (PML M.399, fol. 4v), c. 1515
Noli me tangere, c. 1515-1525
Arsenal in Innsbruck (ÖNB 10816, fol. 2v-3r), 1518
Christ the Gardener with a donor and Saint Louis, c. 1520
March, The Hennessy Hours (Bibl. Royale Albert ler MS II 158, fol. 3v), c. 1530-1540
A shovel used to remove ashes from ovens on the Mary Rose, 1545
Ore preparation, Schwazer Bergbuch (Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum Dipl. 856), 1556
Detail from Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1559
Spring by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
Spring by Pieter Brueghel the Younger
Memento mori memorare novissima by Johann Sadeler, c. 1580-1600
Sprign by Sebastiaen Vrancx