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BIRDS OF
PARADISE
$50.00
Limited Edition Giclee
6" x 9" Actual Image Size
Copyright 2007 Michael Carroll
Please note:
the images shown here are scanned while the actual giclee prints feature crisp
detail and brilliant color.
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Always
a favorite of artists due to its rich display of color and
pattern, the peacock has long been celebrated throughout the
world and in most of the major religions. Considered sacred in
Hindu mythology and revered by Buddhists, the peacock is
associated in many cultures with immortality. Some
Islamic traditions describe peacocks as appearing before the
gates of
Paradise.
In the Middle Ages, legend had it that the flesh of a
peacock remained incorruptible after death, and so it
became a symbol of the risen Christ. As such, peacock
imagery is used quite often in Celtic manuscripts such
as the Book of Kells, while in later medieval heraldry
the peacock represented both beauty and pride of
carriage. The decorative "eyes" on the
feathers were admired by early Christians as reminders
of the all-seeing Eye of God. |
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Carroll's illuminated manuscript page BIRDS OF
PARADISE depicts two birds with topknots and peacock
feathers, entwined together and perched in the
branches of a Tree of Life growing from a vase or
chalice. The Tree of Life was a common image in Celtic
art, and is a very old motif. It was used throughout
the ancient world as a visual form of the Axis Mundi,
or World Axis: the great tree with its roots below the
earth in the underworld, its trunk emerging into our
middle world, and its branches extending far above the
clouds. It was the pathway between heaven and
earth. |
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In
Judaism it appears in the Book of Genesis as the Tree of
Knowledge; its fruits, forbidden to Adam and Eve, would be
depicted in early Christian art as Eucharistic grapes. For the
Celtic tribes in
Europe
, the mighty oak was the earthly representation of the Tree of
Life, and particularly impressive groves often became holy
places, remaining so well into modern times. |
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detail
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artist Michael Carroll's BIRDS OF PARADISE is available as a fine art
giclee print released by the artist in a limited edition of 300,
printed at actual size. Each
individual print is inspected and then hand numbered and signed by the
artist. They are accompanied by a description and a signed certificate
of authenticity, and each giclee is printed on heavyweight 100% cotton
archival paper, using waterproof and highly lightfast pigmented inks
rated to last 80 to 100 years.
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Limited Edition
Giclee of 300
Numbered and signed by the artist
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