Angela - de-lurking after a very long time. Will tell you why in a later letter. Gon Homburg wrote:
Last week an article was published in our newspaper about a painting of Cornelis de Vos. It was purchased by a museum in Amsterdam, called Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder. In English the museum is called Our Lord in the Attic. Originally it was a Roman Catholic church, called St. Nicholas Church. The painting they bought is about the legend of St. Nicholas, who was a bishop in Myra, Turkey. On this painting a father with three daughters. Two of them are making bobbin lace. This reminds me of a painting in York Minster, I do not know the artist, but it shows St Nicholas outside a house looking in through a window. Inside a father sits on a chair, while in a bed are his three daughters, you can see their heads poking out. On the window-sill outside, St. Nicholas has placed a bag of money. One legend says that St. Nicholas, who was the patron saint of children, was concerened for very poor or orphaned girls, who without money for a Dowry, were unable to get married. He collected money from the rich for this purpose, but did not want to be seen giving money to the girls. One story says he climbed onto the roof and dropped it down the chimney! So maybe this is the origin of Santa Claus ( derived from St. Nicholas) coming down the chimney. Angela in Worcestershire [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
