This painting recreates the phoenix from folio 56r in the Aberdeen Bestiary. Painted on calfskin vellum using white egg tempera in combination with a gold leaf background. I framed the work in a square picture frame upon finishing.

This image was painted twice. I painted the first phoenix back in 2019. I decided to redo the project to achieve a better end result, improving upon the gradations, border decorations and use of white space in the margin.

De Fenice; Of the Phoenix

The phoenix is a bird of legend, able to revive itself upon death. This trait led Christians to associate the creature with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as is apparent in the follow excerpt from the Aberdeen Bestiary: “[…] when it observes that it has grown old, it erects a funeral pyre for itself from small branches of aromatic plants, and having turned to face the rays of the sun, beating its wings, it deliberately fans the flames for itself and is consumed in the fire. But on the ninth day after that, the bird rises from its own ashes. Our Lord Jesus Christ displays the features of this bird, saying: ‘I have the power to lay down my life and to take it again’ “

The phoenix’ originates much earlier, however. Ancient Greek folklore already contains stories about long-lived birds that either regenerate or are born again. Later the phoenix gained a variety of new meanings such as the tun, time, renewal and resurrection.