That Ancient Serpent

 

Looking through my collection of digitized illuminated manuscripts, I’ve come across numerous variations of the red dragon, known as the devil or Satan, from Revelation 12. One medieval depiction caught my eye, as it featured the dragon surrounded by red stars—a reference to verse 4, where the dragon's tail sweeps down a third of the stars from heaven and casts them to the earth. This, of course, referring to Lucifer's fall from heaven and taking a third of the angels with him. I liked the image, and I was curious if I could capture all the little details in a cross stitch design.

Well I'm proud to say my latest cross-stitch creation, an exact and meticulous replica of Revelations' red dragon, was a resounding success. I’d like to upload the original illuminated manuscript for comparison but I’m concerned it may violate someone’s copyright. While the manuscripts themselves are ancient and in the public domain, the photographs or images of these manuscripts can still be copyrighted by the photographer or the organization that commissioned them. Some museums and photographers are very relaxed about others sharing their images of ancient artwork, but others can be very litigious.

To avoid any potential legal issues, I won't be posting images of medieval manuscripts until I'm certain I'm in the clear. But let’s not let dreary copyright laws spoil our fun! Without further ado, I would like to present to you that ancient serpent and deceiver of the whole world, now available in cross-stitch form!