Benediction Veil, circa 1690 – 1700
Linen, bobbin lace
The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio
I had a schedule worked out for what art I going to post on what day, but, what with one thing and another, I no longer have access to that schedule. Which sucks, by the way, because while it had no real value and served no particularly important purpose, it represented a lot of time, time spent not just looking for the art I wanted to post but also time as yet unspent recreating it. On the other hand, today's art, representing the Buckeye State, Ohio, is a piece I had overlooked the first time I went looking for art from that state, so in that sense it was perhaps just as well I had to retrace my footsteps. This benediction veil depicts the flight of Mary, Joseph, and an unusually mature-looking Jesus into Egypt. Just like yesterday!
I've been to Ohio many times. One of the more interesting trips was when I was in high school. I was a member of an Explorer Post sponsored by Bell Labs, and I had the opportunity to attend a National Exploring Convention at the Ohio State University in Columbus. I don't remember much about the convention, other than the big show they had planned for the last night of the convention. They originally announced that Bill Cosby would be there to perform for us; instead, we got Rich Little. Not exactly an even trade in my book, but Little was a big name at the time so it probably seemed like a relatively fair trade. As an opening act, we got a rising but relatively unknown entertainer named Kathie Lee Johnson. She was known, to the extent she was known at all, for having been a featured performer on the game show Name That Tune and for appearing in ads for Carnival Cruise Lines. She later became hugely famous under her married name of Kathie Lee Gifford. But I knew her when! Well, not really knew her, but you know what I mean.
By the way, my niece Hannah helped with this post, by suggesting Ohio as today's featured state, and later by validating my choice of this piece over the other two I had considered. Two snaps up to her!
Previous Advent posts:
2003: William Blake, “A Cradle Song”
2004: de Francisci, Madonna and Child
2005: With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness
2006: Jack Prelutsky, "Our Christmas Tree"
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