Birds and death in paintings | National Gallery

What does the goldfinch symbolise? And what do birds have to do with death?

Ed Dickenson from our Learning team explains some of the lost or forgotten meanings in our paintings.

Many artists knew that the people who would view their paintings would recognise the symbols they had carefully placed within them – but they may not have planned on their works surviving over 700 年! Meanings can be forgotten or lost over time, so these videos are here to help you make sense of some of the secrets hidden in our collection.

Paintings mentioned in this video:

The Virgin and Child by Master of the Borgo Crucifix NG6572 http://tiny.cc/ji3cdz
The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca NG665 http://tiny.cc/nm3cdz
The Trinity with Christ Crucified NG3662 http://tiny.cc/cq3cdz
The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius by Carlo Crivelli NG739 http://tiny.cc/ju3cdz
The Adoration of the Kings by Jan Gossaert NG2790 http://tiny.cc/ly3cdz
The Judgement of Paris by Peter Paul Rubens NG194 http://tiny.cc/y13cdz
The Madonna and Child ‘La Madonna del Gatto’ by Federico Barocci NG29 http://tiny.cc/g53cdz
The Holy Family with Saints by Garofalo NG170 http://tiny.cc/583cdz
The Virgin and Child with Saints by Jacob Jordaens NG3215 http://tiny.cc/gc4cdz
The Graham Children by William Hogarth NG4756 http://tiny.cc/6g4cdz
Still Life with Lemons by Juan de Zurbaran NG6669 http://tiny.cc/vk4cdz
Still Life: Vanities by Harmen Steenwyck NG1256 http://tiny.cc/8n4cdz
A Woman in Red feeding a Parrot by Frans van Mieris the Elder NG840 http://tiny.cc/ku4cdz
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright ‘of Derby’ NG725 http://tiny.cc/wy4cdz

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The National Gallery houses the national collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the 13th to the 19th centuries. The museum is free of charge and open 361 days per year, daily between 10:00 – 18:00 and on Fridays between 10:00 – 21:00.
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Sound effect credits –

Dove: 在家DIY的最佳美甲://soundbible.com/1850-Dove.html
Recorded by Mike Koenig
Peacock: 在家DIY的最佳美甲://soundbible.com/1301-Peacock-Call.html
Recorded by junglebunny
Gregorian chant: ❤️情人节美甲💅教程#20nails://freesound.org/people/ramagochi/sounds/320530/
Recorded by ramagochi
Additional sound effects from https://www.zapsplat.com

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