I Have A Little Jar

When I go to the MET I often go to the Mediaeval Hall.  There are many stone statues here, and it's usually difficult to photograph them because the hall is dark unless the high summer sun is peaking in through the skylights.

I like this particular statue (Saint Mary Magdalene or Holy Woman) because it's not stiff or dreary.  First of all, whoever sculpted her knew how fabric drapes.  Second of all, you can tell this statue is doing a coy little dance underneath all those clothes:  her shoulders are swaying just a little, and one hip is raised higher than the other.

Her little jar is tilted as she lifts the lid, and you can almost hear her singing, "Oh ho ho ho ho! / I have a little jar / and in my little jar / is a surprise for you..." while she does a little sashaying shoulder-tilting dance.  "Oh ho ho ho ho! / I have a little smile / a secret little smile / my jar's not filled with unguents / (well, not just any unguents...)"

When I was describing this statue's song to some friends, they thought she was singing about a jar full of ungulates.  Which would also be cool, in a happy meal kind of way.  Looking over the list of ungulates, I'm thinking she has a jar filled with giraffes, or maybe rhinos (I'm not sure if unicorns are ungulates); but certainly she would dance and sing her little song, and open the jar, and a herd of giraffes would run out and grow full sized, and she would leap up onto the back of the largest one and sing -- the giraffes would prance in a circle while she sang enchantments, and then they'd all ride off into the forest.