Valckenborch must have loved dining, food, and wine. His paintings are filled with depictions of meats, fish, and fruits, so he might be called a painter of feasting. His calendar paintings, such as the one celebrating October’s bountiful grape harvest, include an incidental picnic. At the time, there was no word for a picnic; it was simply an alfresco gathering for a luncheon.
Oktober is a vision of fecundity, the real-life equivalent of Peter Bruegel the Elder’s fantasy The Land of Cockaigne (1567). Bruegel was being sarcastic at the expense of the Spanish who ruled the Low Countries at the time; Valckenborch emphasizes Flemish wealth.
On a brilliant fall day, a burger escorts a woman to the picnic, set on a low table in an open grassy space beside a swift-flowing stream. A woman is carrying a basket laden with vegetables. In the background, activities of the grape harvest are illustrated: making barrels, crushing grapes, and drinking, presumably last year’s vintage. As might be expected, there is much lovemaking among couples who have wandered off from the picnic table to sport in the fields beyond the stream.
See Lucas van Valckenborch. Herbstlandschaft (Oktober) (1585), oil on canvas. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna