Special Guest Post: The Roaming Economist Stands In!

Hey readers of the Traveling Blonde's blog! Today's stand-in blogger is none other than the Roaming Economist! (theroamingeconomist.blogspot.com) The Traveling Blonde is currently soaking her tired feet. Hope life, wherever it finds you, is wonderful, and I hope "uffizis" feel much better than do those attached to the Traveling Blonde. My feetsies are holding up just fine, thank you.

I've been tasked with informing you of the details of the great Florentine lamb mystery. Yes, readers, there are lambs with flags everywhere! As you can see in the pictures, the mystery lamb is found on buildings, in churches, on stained glass, and in museums around the city. You will also note that the lamb is often depicted as a helicopter, with overhead rotors. The lamb-copter is nearly always carrying a flag, which looks remarkably like the flag of England, i.e., the red, cross of Saint George on a white background. OK, so we have an English lamb-copter in Florence... the question remains: Why?

The Roaming Economist has pondered this question long and hard... for about 3 minutes total. Using all my powers as a trained art historian (read "none"), I have come to the following brilliant conclusion: The lamb-copter is a heretofore undiscovered invention of Leonardo Da Vinci, which he obviously invented on a secret visit to London.

FOOTNOTE: Some scholars, who are obviously less-educated in renaissance art history, will tell you that the lamb refers to "the lamb of god," a reference to Jesus' sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Latin scholars even have a hoity-toity name: Agnus Dei... sounds like a 60s Motown singer to me. These so called "scholars" will also tell you that the flag is a victory banner, representing Jesus' triumph over death. But, none of these self-important "historians" can explain the thorny lamb/helicopter connection. Who are you going to believe? Me or them?