The Christmas Dove

                                          An original acrylic painting, on a gesso primed masonite panel
                                          8 X 10", unframed
                                          $300.00, - (plus $10.00, pack and ship)

                                           
                                                     ( Click on image to enlarge )

     The gentle, white dove has served as a symbol of peace and love for thousands of
years, going back to the Old Testament, and before, in pagan mythology.  Over those
past centuries, artists have frequently chosen doves as the subjects of their work, right
up through the Renaissance and our contemporary painters.  Picasso was well known
for his rendition of a peace loving dove, carrying an olive branch, an image which was
hijacked by the Russians for political purposes.  Doves have often been associated
with the peaceful olive branch, ( most notably in the story of Noah and the flood ), but
since I decided to paint this dove for Christmas, I chose to have this gentle symbol of
the season of peace and love, perching in a holly tree.

     It would be quite a rarity to actually see one of these domesticated birds visiting
our holly trees.  The so-called "wedding doves", which are often released as a part of
wedding ceremonies, are actually white, homing pigeons, which travel back to their
home coops.  Doves evidently lack the homing instinct, so if a bird breeder released
a flock of doves at a wedding, they would probably fail to return home, and he would
be out of business.

     So, although we are unlikely to have one of these symbols of peace show up
outside our windows on a Christmas morning, I am presenting my version of the
Christmas Dove to the viewers of this blog, as a way of wishing us all a more
peaceful and loving world in 2016.