Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Chasing Frankish geese...

So here's the deal. I've had this picture in my files for awhile now, and I have no idea where I got it. The little strip at the bottom says "The Australian National University", but a search of this university's website, including their art collection, has turned up nothing. I have no citation for the damn thing.

It's ivory, and from the style of the carving, the drapes, clothes, etc, I suspect 8th or 9th century.

The scene, confirmed by the inscription, is of what we call the Visitation, when Mary, newly pregnant with Jesus, visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. The scripture says that upon meeting, the fetal John leapt for joy and the presence of the embryonic Savior.

My problem is that I want to use the image in a class, and have no citation, so I really can't. Going through my pictures, I'm finding that this is true of a lot of them.

Bugger.

And my usually mighty Google-fu is not so mighty.

I has a sad.
*********

In other news, I talked to my doctor about the sleep problems that I've been having, and happily she actually had help for me! Yay! But it is more drugs! Not so yay!. On the other hand, IT IS WORKING. Like a charm. No more dementors trying to kill me in my sleep. I had one nightmare, but it was an ordinary, garden-variety nightmare, and I'm ok with that.

Also, my granddaughters are cuter than ever:
 Ilyana, looking mischievous...
Anastasia, sweet and shy.

The best of friends.