The Conference of the Birds

 The Conference of the Birds, or The Speech of the Birds (Persian: منطق الطیر‎, Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr, also known as مقامات الطیور Maqāmāt-uṭ-Ṭuyūr; 1177),  is an epic of approximately 4500 lines written in Persian by the poet Farid ud-Din Attar, who is commonly known as Attar of Nishapur.

In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their king, as they have none. The hoopoe, the wisest of them all, suggests that they should find the legendary Simorgh, a mythical Persian bird roughly equivalent to the western phoenix. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represent a human fault which prevents man from attaining enlightenment. When the group of thirty birds finally reach the dwelling place of the Simorgh, all they find is a lake in which they see their own reflection.

This painting was created as an advertisement for a play in Philadelphia.  All of the bird charcters from the play are represented with the hoopoe, the wisest of them all at the center.  The strings represent their being guided by outside forces and opinions other than their own on their route to self discovery.

Water color on Windsor Newton coldpress paper. (prints available)