Oktober 17th century

This small, anonymous print, titled "Oktober," gives us a glimpse into the agricultural practices of a bygone era. We see figures engaged in the grape harvest, perhaps somewhere in Europe, with one man treading grapes in a vat. Consider the labor, the physical exertion involved in this process. The artist captures this toil with a certain intimacy, showing workers in the field and emphasizing the communal nature of the task. The figures are rendered without idealization, revealing their humanity. There is a palpable sense of the everyday here, a moment of human connection amidst the turning of the seasons. Even in its small scale, this print offers a powerful meditation on the relationship between labor, identity, and the land. How might our understanding of work and community shift if we were more connected to the sources of our sustenance?