Month: January 2023

Who could resist this purrfect profile? Brünnhilde. Photo copyrighted by Adolph E. Weidhaas, 1936. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.51533 This unassuming – and apparently quite tolerant – tabby cat appears in an exhibit now at the Library of Congress: Not an Ostrich: & Other Images from America’s Library. The exhibit spans the history of photography from 1839 to modern times, as found in the Library’s collections. In this 1936 photo, the cat, complete with winged helmet and breastplate armor, is costumed as the legendary Brünnhilde. Whether her depiction is drawn from Wagner’s opera Der Ring des Niebelungen or from earlier Norse mythology or Germanic legend, we don’t know, but we do know she has become one of the most-loved faces of the exhibit. Reference Specialist…