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 sombody'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.
The tapestry is bursting with activity and finely observed detail; a woodcutter's flask hangs casually from a branch, a fox on a hillock eyes the sheep ignored by the frolicking shepherds. The shepherds and sheperdesses too, with knives, combs, rosaries and whistles hanging from their belts, their crooks with blades for digging, display an extraordinary level of individuality and life. They are also very well dressed, especially when compared with the swineherd and woodcutter, and this has lead many commentators to suggest that the tapestry depicts courtiers playing at rural life.