Browse Items · Medievalism in Australian Cultural Memory

'St Francis beaten by his Father', by Arthur Boyd

This work by Arthur Boyd was acquired by the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1969 with funds from the Morgan Thomas Bequest. It depicts St Francis of Assisi being beaten by his father, who is known to have objected to Francisâ€™ religious…

â€˜St Francis and the Birdsâ€™, by Michael Galovic

This artwork by Yugoslavian-Australian artist Michael Galovic depicts St Francis of Assisi, the thirteenth-century religious reformer, preaching to birds in his characteristic brown habit. It is an example of the artist’s modern religious…

Anniversary of the Establishment of the Eight Hour Day

A wood engraving by an artist for the Victorian Millers' Union which commemorates the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the eight hour working day in Victoria. Some historians consider trade unions to be the successors of medieval guilds.

Tags: Amalgamated Millers Union of Victoria, anniversary, banner, Eight Hour Day, Elizabethan Tableau, engraving, labour, Labour Day, Millers Union, sketch, Tobannonists Tableau, Trade Union, union, unionism, work, working class

Banner for United Operative Masons of Melbourne

An image of a medieval-style embellished banner for the United Operative Masons of Melbourne, Victoria. The banner commemorates the 8 hour day Labor Movement, with the 3 men around the triangle symbolising 8 hours of work, 8 hours of recreation and…

Tags: activism, banner, banners, labour, mason, parade, politics, procession, processions, stone, stone mason, stone masonry, stone masons, stonemason, trade, trade procession, Trade Union, trade unionism, unionism, unions, work, working class

Eight Hour Day Parade in Brisbane, 1912

Photograph portraying a 1912 parade celebrating the Eight Hour Day. Trade unionists are in the parade showing their support by bearing a medieval inspired banner. Some historians consider trade unions to be the successors of medieval guilds.

Tags: Labor, labour, Labour Day, parade, procession, Trade Union, trade unionism, union, unionism, work, working class

Eight Hour Procession 1901, Sydney

SMH 1901 Mon 7 May Eight Hour Day[1].pdf

The writer credits the craft guilds of medieval England for the eight-hour system, including the Saturday half-holiday. The latter was supposed to be devoted to archery practice, which eventually ensured English mastery of the bow and arrow and their…

Eight Hours Song

Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW) 1898 Wed. 5 Oct Eight Hours Day Song.jpg

Working or labour songs were a feature of nineteenth century (and later) union gatherings and processions. The songs and communal singing evoke peasant or folk traditions. The song gives the workers the high-ground because they resort to moral rather…

Tags: Eight Hour Day, eight hours, Felix McLaren, Knights of Labor, Labor songs, labour, labourer, sabre, Trade Union, trade unionism, union, unionism, unions, work, worker, working class

Female Servantâ€™s Revolt

This illustration is an early reference to the beginnings of the eight-hour movement. One of the first marches took place in Melbourne in 1856, when the Stonemasons working on the build of the University of Melbourne, marched to Parliament protesting…

Tags: Eight Hour Day, Eight-hour day movement, freedom of labour, labour, labourer, Melbourne, Melbourne 888, Peasants Revolt, revolution, women servants, work, worker, working class

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