December 1633 - 1643

Denis Boutemie made this print called "December" using etching. Here we see a figure composed of grotesque elements – a human face, animalistic features, and armor-like adornments – holding flaming torches. This imagery stems from the tradition of carnival, popular across Europe from the late medieval period onwards. Carnival was a time of social upheaval and playful transgression when the social order was inverted. Here, the artist seems to be celebrating this subversion of norms through a distorted, almost monstrous figure. The figure's hybridity, combining human and animalistic traits, would have stood in stark contrast to the Renaissance ideals of harmony and order. As historians, we can study such images alongside accounts of popular festivals and carnivals, looking at the ways in which ordinary people challenged social and institutional hierarchies through symbolic inversions and burlesque performances. The visual codes and cultural references in this work offer insight into the social dynamics of the time and the power of art to challenge existing norms.