4. Symbolically, the pruning of the vine evokes the pruning of one’s desires: as too much sap produces an undisciplined, invasive and infertile plant, all superfluity must be cut away. 
 
6. After the harvest and the pressing of the grapes, the wine is put in a barrel. At the start of the process, the barrel needs to be topped up regularly in order to keep it full. Here, the vineyard worker fills up the barrel with a smaller keg. 

8. The vineyard workers prune the vine – an activity that traditionally takes place in March. They wear cloaks to protect themselves from the cold, and cut back the vine with a curved pruning knife. Secateurs were only invented at the start of the 19th century.  
 
9 and 10. Ergotism, or St Anthony’s Fire, was – along with plague, leprosy and syphilis – was one of the four great maladies of the Middle Ages. Aside from the thaumaturgic approach (employing the services of a miracle-maker) and surgery (necessary when gangrene didn’t cause the limb to drop off on its own), there were treatments for St Anthony’s Fire: holy wine (a wine brought into contact with saintly relics, possibly imbued with medical substances); a similar “water” (St Anthony’s Water); fomentations (warm compresses, applied locally and externally) and ointments intended to sooth the condition’s painful burning sensations). (Source: Pierre Bachoffner, 1997). The Hôtel-Dieu of Beaune carried the name of St Anthony, patron saint of hospitals thanks to the involvement of the Order of St Anthony in caring for sufferers of the condition. Saint Vinage – wine first sprinkled on the statue of a saint – was among the medicines used. Here we are at the leper hospital of Grand Beaulieu in Chartres. The carers wore red; the patients, white. As a cure, sufferers were made to drink Saint Vinage – wine or water first poured over the case containing the cathedral’s holy relics. A monk in red holds a cup of this drink and a patient in white shows his face, holding up his “martyr’s” hands. At this time, lepers were considered martyrs, suffering as Christ had suffered and curable only by God. They were therefore favoured by Him, having been chosen. If this stained glass features a lot of lepers, it’s because St Leobinus also suffered from leprosy: he was said to have worn a false nose, his own having been lost to the disease. During this period, all skin conditions and even ergotism were considered “leprous”.  
 
11. The Western rose window of Notre-Dame escaped the 2019 blaze. The stained glass panels depict each month’s agricultural work associated with its zodiac sign, Virtues and Vices, the prophets and, in the centre, the Virgin Mary. Traditionally, Aries – the first fire sign – starts off the new annual cycle. Spring has just arrived and a man is pruning the vine.
 
12. The autumn’s activity (Libra) starts with the grape harvest. This would be followed by the treading of the grapes – the start of the vinification process.