La Main Chaude – So much going on in just this little section of it.
The detail of their belts with knives, combs, rosaries, and whistles (and other bits I’m still trying to figure out) hanging off of them has always brought their everyday human experience to life for me.

“Made in Flanders in the early sixteenth century, this tapestry depicts shepherds and shepherdesses playing ‘la main chaude’, a children’s game known as ‘hot cockles’ in English. One participant hides his face in somebody’s lap with one hand behind his back. The other players slap the hand making it ‘hot’ while the hand’s owner has to guess who is slapping. The flirtatious physicality of this game when played by adults is particularly apparent in the central group.”