For All Seasons- Embroidered picture

Embroidered and printed more than a century ago, this beautiful picture draws on classical art and poetry to depict the cycle of the changing seasons.

Currently on display at Leeds City Museum the picture was created in 1913 and shows four flamboyantly-dressed women who represent a different season of the year.

Influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite style, it is inspired by the poem The Lapse of the Year by William Morris, which, like the picture, looks at each of the seasons in turn.

It currently hangs in the entrance to the museum’s special exhibitions gallery, which is home to For All Seasons, an exploration of the changing seasons and the influence they have on the world around us.

Ruth Martin, Leeds City Museum’s curator of exhibitions, said: “This picture is a beautiful depiction of the changing seasons which also demonstrates one of the many different ways that artists and writers have personified spring, summer autumn and winter over the centuries.

“The seasons have always been an inspiration for culture and the arts and today we can see the impact they have on everything from film and television to music and books.”

For All Seasons, which is free to enter, features a variety of objects which illustrate the four seasons.

They include vintage fashions, wildlife, some 100 year-old decorative Easter eggs, delicate ceramics, and paintings by world-famous Leeds artist John Atkinson Grimshaw, on loan from Leeds Art Gallery.

Exhibits are displayed around a series of imaginative centrepieces in the form of a giant sandcastle, indoor tree, traditional sledge and hook-a-duck pond.

The exhibition is also accompanied by specially-recorded classical piano sheet music from the museum’s collection.

Councillor Brian Selby, Leeds City Council’s lead member for museums and galleries, said:

“The seasons, and the profound effect they have on the world, have been an inspiration to some of history’s most celebrated artists, sculptors, composers and musicians and it’s wonderful that the museum will be celebrating this in such an interactive and accessible way.

For All Seasons runs until August 28. For more details about the exhibition and the programme of activities, please visit: http://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/Pages/Seasons.aspx

ENDS