Suzanne Holtom, 2008, Oil on Linen

Framing this work is Suzanne Holtom’s interest in connecting caesareans to mythology and the title this painting is an example of this mythic link. Adebar is the name of the seemingly benevolent stork taken from Germanic folklore. Roughly translated as luck-bringer, Adebar’s darker side was associated with a wound (gebissen) and an attack on the mother, which explained to children their mother’s confinement in bed following the arrival of their siblings.