Three images from this museum which I was privileged to visit whilst living in Austria, two rather strange and one lovely and evocative.

Vogel Selbsterkenntnis (The Bird of Self-Knowledge)

The text below this strange creature reads:

Zieeh sich ein yeydts selbst bey Der Nasn —
Waß Dich nit Prendt Thue auch nicht Plasn.

Or, in standard German,

Ziehe jedermann sich selbst an der Nase
Was Dich nicht brennt, tue auch nicht blasen

Translated into English:

Let everyone take themselves by their own nose
Don’t blow on what does not burn you.

This is an admonition to mind your own business, know yourself, and don’t involve yourself in things that do not concern you.

The Holy Trinity

An attempt by a Tyrolean artist to comprehend the doctrine of the Trinity as set forth in the Athanasian Creed. Tyrol is probably the most Catholic of all the regions of Austria, itself a predominantly Catholic nation.

An old Tyrolian parlor.

I love the wood. Warm, old, polished, wood. My dream house would have rooms like this.

The Old Wolf has spoken.