Printable Vintage Art: Madonna in a Niche with Rich Floral Pieces by Leopold Brunner

Madonna in a Niche with Rich Floral Pieces, 1846
by Leopold Brunner (1788–1866)

Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess:

Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from becoming too talkative, and especially from the unfortunate habit of thinking that I must say something on every subject and at every opportunity.

Release me from the idea that I must straighten out other peoples' affairs. With my immense treasure of experience and wisdom, it seems a pity not to let everybody partake of it. But thou knowest, Lord, that in the end I will need a few friends.

Keep me from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point.

Grant me the patience to listen to the complaints of others; help me to endure them with charity. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains -- they increase with the increasing years and my inclination to recount them is also increasing.

I will not ask thee for improved memory, only for a little more humility and less self-assurance when my own memory doesn't agree with that of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong.

Keep me reasonably gentle. I do not have the ambition to become a saint -- it is so hard to live with some of them -- but a harsh old person is one of the devil's masterpieces.

Make me sympathetic without being sentimental, helpful but not bossy. Let me discover merits where I had not expected them, and talents in people whom I had not thought to possess any. And, Lord, give me the grace to tell them so.

Amen.

Sources:
[1] Original image from Wikimedia
[2] The Real Victorian's enhanced version of the public domain painting seen above,
downloadable as a 11" x 14" @ 300 ppi JPEG

Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain paintings are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Photo for Collage, Graphic Design, Papercrafts or Scrapbooking: Christmas Angel

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
the Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A little grungy, hand-tinted vintage postcard from 1908 showing a girl dressed as a Christmas angel with a flower crown. Free high-res 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG without a watermark for collage, graphic design, papercrafts or scrapbooking projects here.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.

Vintage Clipart for Collage, Graphic Design or Scrapbooking: Reverie (1 & 2)

Nothing makes time pass or shortens the way
like a thought that absorbs in itself all the faculties of the one who is thinking.
External existence is then like a sleep of which this thought is the dream.
Under its influence, time has no more measure, space has no more distance.
― Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers

She was always daydreaming. She never wanted to live in the real world;
she always seemed to be separated from other children her age.
They couldn’t understand her or her imagination.
She was always thinking outside of the box, breaking rules,
and only following what her heart told her was right.
― Shannon A. Thompson, November Snow
Two black and white illustrations from 1896 of young women in a daydream. You can download the high-res clipart here and here. Larger image size available for licensing. Please inquire.


For personal use only. Not for resale. All digitized work by The Real Victorian is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. Please cite RealVictorian.com as your source when sharing or publishing.