This is copy of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Louvre (inv. 775) which is dated to 1513-1516, at the end of the artist’s career. Scholars are now considering the possibility that the Walters’ version was actually executed at the same time, alongside the original. As in the original, the Baptist wears a leopard skin, usually considered an attribute of Bacchus.

If I could change one thing about Modern Society, I would make it ok to be alone.

It’s firmly ingrained into our social consciousness that if  you don’t have a cellphone or a ‘tribe’, if you don’t have  a million followers on Instagram or  thousands of friends Facebook if you don’t TicTok or Snapchat then ( gasp ) you MUST be some kind of  outcast and everyone must hate you.

I can live with that-in fact I do.

However, sometimes I leave my phone at home or I forget to turn it on and even though it doesn’t make alert noises often and it doesn’t ring at all, the world is so quiet- no- peaceful.

I wish it could always be like that.

But I do have my phone on most of the time- even though my dog hates it and so do I. I carry it around simply because it’s not okay if I don’t. It’s just one of those things that we are expected to do- like covering your nose when you sneeze or closing your mouth when you are chewing your food.

I’d change that if I could- not the covering your nose when you sneeze or covering your mouth when you are chewing your food bit, but the phone part. I’d change it no matter how loud people yelled or cried. For this I would give up a quiet and peaceful day or two.