Day Nine: Birds

There are many birds in the picture. Jan Brueghel was known for his wildlife and landscape paintings, and was sometimes called “Paradise” Brueghel because of his depictions of scenes of the Garden of Eden. In this picture there are ducks in a puddle, a magpie, pigeon, chickens (more of them tomorrow!), crows and a pair of blue tits. But while many of the birds are simply perched or in flight, the blue tits look very much as if they are pairing up, preparing to nest.

There were many legends and carols circulating by the Middle Ages featuring birds gathering at the stable when Jesus was born, and they were very popular and widely known. Brueghel would certainly have been familiar with them. In one of them, the Catalan Carol of the Birds, the blue tits sing, “"It is neither winter nor summer/ But rather springtime/ A flower is born/ That gives a sweet smell all around/ And fills the whole world."  The first sign of birds pairing up and nesting – traditionally on Feb 14, St Valentine’s Day -  is a moment of hope that winter is losing its grip. The nesting birds here suggest that Jesus’ birth marks the beginning of a new age even when winter seems endless.

 

For Reflection

 “Arise my love, my fair one, and come away, for mow the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”                                                                           Song of Solomon 2.12

 

Spend some time outside today if you can (or just open a window!). What birds can you see and hear? What signs of spring do you look forward to?

Where in your life do you need a “springtime” now? Tell God about it.

Joan Baez' version of a couple of verses of "The Carol of the Birds" is here. It's a very well-known Catalonian carol, made famous in an instrumental arrangement by cellist Pau Casals (more often known as Pablo Casals - the Spanish version of his Catalan name) played here by Sheku Kanneh-Mason. And here's another version, sung in Catalan, by Jose Carreras.

The whole picture:

https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-brueghel-the-elder-the-adoration-of-the-kings