Allegory of the Four Seasons is an oil on canvas painting by Italian Renaissance painter Bartolomeo Manfredi.
As the name implies, the painting depicts the four seasons of the year personified as people sharing a room. Since Manfredi was a follower of Caravaggio (aka a Caravaggisti
), this artwork is an Early-Baroque painting coming fresh from the Mannerist movement.
The painting is currently in the permanent collection of the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio.
This painting provides examples of:
- Anthropomorphic Personification: Each of the four figures in the piece represents the four seasons. The figures to the left are Spring and Autumn, the woman facing the viewer is Summer and the old man in furs is Winter.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Summer has her body turned, as if she was just watching the other seasons' antics, to shoot a piercing stare right at the viewer.
- Character Title: The four seasons are portrayed as Allegorical Characters.
- Chiaroscuro: While not as strong as other Caravagesque paintings, intense light and shadow are present. The former can be appreciated in the subjects' skin while the latter dominates in the background and some of the clothes.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The painting's subjects are four people who each represent one of the year's seasons — summer, spring, autumn, and winter.
- Our Nudity Is Different: As it was the standard in Renaissance art, nudity holds no sexual appeal unless the artwork depicts the Greco-Roman goddess of love. It's instead, a way to distinguish preternatural beings from the common folk. The four seasons are partially nude because they are neither saints nor divine in nature (from the point of view of that era's canon), but still above normal humans.
- Platonic Kissing: As can be seen in their faces and the fact both their eyes are wide open, Spring and Autumn are not kissing because they are in love with each other. Instead, it's just symbolism for the welding of day and night at the equinox.
- Rule of Symbolism: The four subjects are personifications of the seasons, this can be noted by the iconography that surrounds them. Additionally, the way they are arranged is commonly interpreted as an allegory of the phases of love instead of the progression of the year.
- Spring has a crown of roses on the top of her head, which comes from the fact it's spring when flowers blossom and all life resumes activity.
- Autumn and Spring kissing represents the union of day and night at the equinox. Seeing Spring that is holding a lute, it also means that music is born from love.
- Summer's hair is decorated with wheat stalks, a crop often associated with the season. Furthermore, she's grasping a small mirror, which indicates that she's the symbol of the origin of love.
- Winter is the oldest of the four, representing how the season sets the end of the year. He is also bundled in furs as if shielding himself from the cold. He's also kind of isolated from the others, denoting that he wants little to do with love in his old age.
- The fruit and vegetables laid out on the table are all representative autumnal harvests: turnips, black and green grapes, a pumpkin, pears, apples, figs, a pomegranate, and even a cup of squash. This signifies that the four seasons are in Autumn's domain.
- Seasonal Baggage: As part of the Rule of Symbolism, the characters are the Anthropomorphic Personifications of the four seasons, with each of them wearing Motifs that represent that. Spring is playing the lute and wearing a crown of roses by virtue of it being the season of celebration (that winter ended) and blossoms. Autumn is represented by the fruits and vegetables on the table and the Bacchic crown of grapes on his head because it's the season when most crops are harvested. Summer has wheat stalks on her hair because both the color yellow and the crop itself is associated with that season. Finally, Winter is an elderly man buried in blankets and a white, fur head cover which alludes to the cold weather of said season and the fact it ends the year.
- Shout-Out:
- The crown of ivy and tendrils worn by Autumn is made to give him a resemblance to Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine and Fertility. Kind of enforced since the Renaissance drew a lot of inspiration from Classical Mythology.
- Manfredi was one of Caravaggio's unofficial disciples, so it's no surprise that he references said artist's works in his paintings. For example, the arrangement of the characters in the Allegory of the Seasons echoes The Musicians (see here◊). Also, Summer breaking the fourth wall and the brightly illuminated harvests on a table are reminiscent of the Young Sick Bacchus.
- Side Boob: Summer is looking at the viewer over her shoulder. Since she is bare-chested, the side of her boob is in full view, bare nipple included.
- The X of Y: The painting's title is Allegory of the (Four) Seasons.
