Hi I'm Ed, part of the Learning team here at the National Gallery. This series is
going to explore some of the signs and symbols hidden in our paintings.
Now, artists often placed symbols very carefully in their paintings knowing
that they had an audience who would recognise them.
Some of our paintings are over 700 years old!
The artists probably hadn't planned on that so things get
lost or forgotten over time.
These videos are going to help you explore what some
of these signs might mean and to find some of the secrets hidden in our collection.
Today we're going to be looking at birds and death because you
can't really look at birds in paintings without death turning up as well.
People have been fascinated with birds for millennia,
partly because they can do the one thing we can't: fly.
Elegant, elusive, able to escape up to the heavens,
in ancient times they would depict the human soul leaving the body
at the moment of death. Now in the National Gallery we've got a lot of
deeply religious Christian art and birds symbolized in those paintings quite
often show the link between life, death and the spiritual realm. Take for example
the dove.
The symbol of peace and good tidings and the answer to that tricky
question, how do you paint the Holy Spirit?
Well, the Holy Spirit depicted as
a dove would be shown visiting its blessings upon the most important
figures in a painting, for example Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, or perhaps both.
You might have noticed an even more elegant bird in paintings of Jesus and Mary,
a peacock.
It would represent immortality or Christ's resurrection.
Why a peacock? Well, it was genuinely believed in ancient times that peacocks flesh
didn't decay so what better to represent eternal life.
The eyes on its tail could
also represent the all-seeing eye of the church, and you'll find peacocks in
paintings of Greek mythology as well and it would be representing Juno or
Hera the queen of the gods.
You'll see a lot of images of children holding or being given birds.
Now, very often the child is Christ and the bird is a goldfinch.
Why a goldfinch? Well, they're elegant and popular pets
and children would love them so it's reminder of a child taking childish
delights in such things.
But there's something darker here as well. There is a
legend of a goldfinch that flew down to Christ as he carried his cross up the
hill to Calvary and his crucifixion. The goldfinch plucked out a thorn from
Christ's head and a splash of blood hit its own, leaving that distinctive red mark.
So why include a goldfinch in a picture of a child and the child Christ?
Well, it's a reminder of what ultimately awaits him. He will grow up to be the man
who sacrifices himself for all mankind.
You'll also see paintings with goldfinches
in that don't seem to be about Christ at all. Take for example this
happy family, the Graham children. Eldest son Richard is playing a music box for
the goldfinch in the cage up above. All smiles.
But it's a little bit darker than that.
Look again at the goldfinch and it's not flapping its wings out of joy
but out of terror, because of its side it can see a cat, wide-eyed and hungry.
And over on the other side of the painting, there is a cherub holding a
scythe and an hourglass. All a little bit dark... Well, it points to a hidden meaning
which is baby Thomas down below - yes, it is a boy - died while the painting was
being made, and the family decided to keep him in the painting eternally
smiling with only these few little references in there letting us know what
has actually happened.
Now goldfinches and other birds also appear in paintings
that don't have people in them at all in still life. The goldfinch again is that
symbol of Christ's death and if the bird represents the human soul, then it's a
reminder of all our deaths. All this will pass, beauty will fade, and all earthly
possessions must be left behind. All very morbid - but very much in demand for the
collector with money to spend on art and it's known as vanitas. Like this painting
here - you've got symbols of human mortality, snuffed out oil lamp, a ticking
clock, and in case you hadn't figured it out yet the grinning skull looking right
at you. Sometimes a bird is just a bird, symbolising nothing more than its own
beauty and of course how fabulously wealthy its owners are.
Still, that might not save you from
having a traveling scientist pop round, bunging the family
pet in a glass jar and suffocating it for the
education of the terrified audience.
So next time you spot a bird in a
painting, see if any of this helps you decipher what it might represent.
Is it just a bird, or is the artist trying to hint at something else?
If you'd like to learn more about our paintings, click here or here. All the paintings used in
this video will be listed in the description below. Don't forget to
subscribe and leave a comment telling us what you thought thanks so much for watching.