Summer

A young peasant – beardless and red-cheeked, with curly hair and a dreamy look in his eye – represents Summer in the second of Teniers' allegorical paintings of the seasons. Behind him the trees are in full leaf and the distance is hazy with heat; above, the clouds are light and puffy.The youth stands steadying the sheaf of corn he has just finished binding with plaited straw. He wears a loose open-necked shirt, but his brown breeches and stockings are thick and heavy. Perhaps because of the summer heat and the weight of these garments he’s less active than the characters Teniers portrays as the other three seasons, though the peasants behind him are working hard. The man wields a scythe to cut the corn, while the woman bends to heap it into sheaves, ready to be tied.