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Birds in Art: A Collection of Stunning Works Inspired by Our Feathered Friends

  • Vikki Griffin

Vikki Griffin

•4 min read

Pictorial Carpet

Islamic Art / The Met

    This silk carpet combines an unusually dense weave for a Persian carpet, with a composition inspired by Flemish tapestry.
    While the pictorial scene can be traced to seventeenth-century Europe, the technique and execution point to the Safavid court as the source of patronage and production.
    It is possible that such carpets were woven in Iran for export or intended as diplomatic gifts.
    The smaller scale of the buildings suggests the influence of European perspective.
    The border compartments, whose arrangement is also repeated symmetrically, show figures in European dress, flower vases, and reclining deer.

The Deity Vajrabhairava, Tantric Form of the Bodhisattva Manjushri

Asian Art / The Met

    The most popular tantric manifestation of Manjushri is Vajrabhairava.
   Here, he has a buffalo head, holds an array of weapons, and tramples on birds, dogs, and Hindu gods
    In this form, he is sometimes called Yamantaka, or the defeater of death, a deity that ends the cycle of rebirth and provides a path to nirvana.
    He frightens away egotism and selfishness - the root of suffering - and in this true form reveals the awesome and terrifying nature of enlightenment.

Study of a Bird

Iranian, ca. 1565–d. 1635 / The Met

    This painting is one of the latest works by the artist.
    The bird appears true-to-life and animated, although it is not proportional in relation to the trees in the background.
    The painting is of a nightingale.

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