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phoenix

Posted on December 31, 2006 @ 11:21 am by massimo | Filed under: animals, blog, china, mythology, wordpress

phoenix china aynaku illustration travel

 

“There is also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I did not myself see except in painting, for in truth he comes to them very rarely, at intervals, as the people of Heliopolis say, of five hundred years; and these say that he comes regularly when his father dies; and if he be like the painting, he is of this size and nature, that is to say, some of his feathers are of gold colour and others red, and in outline and size he is as nearly as possible like an eagle. This bird they say (but I cannot believe the story) contrives as follows: setting forth from Arabia he conveys his father, they say, to the temple of the Sun (Helios) plastered up in myrrh, and buries him in the temple of the Sun; and he conveys him thus: he forms first an egg of myrrh as large as he is able to carry, and then he makes trial of carrying it, and when he has made trial sufficiently, then he hollows out the egg and places his father within it and plasters over with other myrrh that part of the egg where he hollowed it out to put his father in, and when his father is laid in it, it proves (they say) to be of the same weight as it was; and after he has plastered it up, he conveys the whole to Egypt to the temple of the Sun. Thus they say that this bird does.” — Herodotus, The Histories, Book II:73

My illustration is done after the Chinese manner. It precisely refers to a painting from the Sung Dynasty depicting a goddess riding the Feng-huang bird, the Chinese phoenix, which I bought in Beijing…

Illustration Friday’s topic is: phoenix

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 31st, 2006 and is filed under animals, blog, china, mythology, wordpress. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 people have left comments

Molto bella la tua illustrazione!
Felice Anno Nuovo!

Nicole wrote on December 31, 2006 - 12:59 pm CET

This phoenix stands out from the many others I have seen this week. A harmonious illustration ~ I adore your lines and curves here.

Amy Zaleski wrote on December 31, 2006 - 3:55 pm CET

This is gorgeous, Aynaku. I love the way u’ve expressed the topic and the story behind it :)

Have a GREAT 2007! Muak!

Pati @-;– wrote on December 31, 2006 - 3:57 pm CET

lol ok so u post the arabian myth and draw the chinese version now that enlightening. great job and illo.

michael dailey wrote on December 31, 2006 - 5:48 pm CET

You are a master of words and pictures and I love the magic in this piece! Very beautiful and special! I love it!!! Have an inspiring and magic filled New Year!

valgalart wrote on December 31, 2006 - 8:02 pm CET

Wonderful illo. You have a great style.

Larry Lee wrote on December 31, 2006 - 10:46 pm CET

Very cool take! nice one!

Michelle Lana wrote on January 2, 2007 - 10:36 pm CET

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