Figure and Bird 

Jean David’s painting presents us with a figure and a bird, interwoven in a palette of earthy browns and golds. The bird, positioned where the figure’s eye should be, immediately draws our attention. Birds, throughout history, have been potent symbols. Consider the dove representing peace or the owl symbolizing wisdom. Here, the bird may represent the soul, or perhaps a messenger between worlds. The figure’s serene profile evokes ancient portraiture. This echoes the tradition of capturing the likeness of an individual, but with a surreal twist. The integration of the bird disrupts the conventional representation, suggesting a blending of the human and animal, the rational and intuitive. Such imagery has surfaced time and again. Remember the Egyptian deity Horus, with the head of a falcon, embodying power and protection? Or the Greek myth of Icarus, whose desire to fly too close to the sun led to his downfall? These symbols and stories resonate through the ages, carried in our collective memory, reappearing in art and myth, constantly evolving, reflecting our deepest fears and aspirations.