[Verginius Rufus]

Of course there is the famous story in Genesis 9 of Noah being seen naked by his son Ham--when Noah wakes up he curses Ham's son Canaan.

That could be seen as giving the Israelites (descended from Shem) the right to conquer the land of Canaan. But why Ham? The Egyptians were supposed to be descended from Ham. Had the Israelites observed Egyptian peasants working naked? (They are sometimes shown like that in Egyptian tomb paintings.)

And of course Moses later forbade the Israelites from eating ham. Coincidence?

[Rockingham]

Coincidence? Ham? Did you say ham? There must be a connection somewhere to the subject of nakedness in art.

Well, although denied by Kosher law to observant Jews, warm naked slices of ham are good enough on the plate, but, if cold and sliced thin, they gain by being put between two slices of rye for clothing, with the accompaniment of Swiss cheese, sliced pickle, spicy brown mustard, and perhaps some lettuce.

Oh well, given the noon hour, I guess my mind has wandered off to what the art of the sandwich might offer to naked ham for the sake of lunch.