Giotto Sermon To The Birds

Jumai Bandele Humanity Course Giotto Sermon To The Birds Discussion I believe birds have souls. I believe them to be highly advanced entities as well. They soar and fly through the sky freely. Then also they have birds eye view which allows them to see things more clearly and critically. I believe in this art piece it represents a love and respect of nature. In the painting you see he knew this. The way that he looks to the birds is as if he is praising them for their existence as a part of nature. I noticed upon further analyzing the picture that the birds are looking up at him. He seems to be in the process of clapping his hands showing his rejoicement. This to me is a very unique symbolism of how birds by nature can recognize positive communication. Generally today in society birds usually don't approach humans unless given something such as bread. Rather than give them bread he gives them a sense of happiness in his glee in trying to connect with them. I guess though that technically he is nourishing them like bread does. He nourishes them with love through communication. To stand on its own without the story would take some open minded analyzation but I think it could. Often times when viewing art though it takes history of the person's life. This is because a piece of every artist is shown in their artwork. Which in turn helps you to understand what was happening in their life that inspired them to do it at that time. You understand the drive better of what fueled them to come up with this art and bring it to life. I think the audience of this piece is spiritual people. Those spiritual people that seek to understand nature and its connection with us on this planet. The reason I said that this is a painting for one that is deeply spiritual is because one who is deeply spiritual has an open mind. Spiritual people to me are those that love and accept themselves and also on a personal level the world and those around them. However this piece can also be for the audience of those trying to understand how to appreciate nature since it changes your view on the way birds are seen. By changing your view it allows you to accept the fact that peace within nature might not be so impossible if one opens their heart and mind. I had previously said in the above paragraph that this could not stand alone without knowing the history behind the picture. I now find that I partially disagree with this. I still agree that it is great to have a background of an author to improve your insight and understanding of the sermon to the birds. I think it could stand alone because of what it represents. You have the beautiful blue sky in the picture and the birds standing on the ground peacefully. Then you have the water which flows. You have the wonderful green trees that look to be grown healthy.Everything in this picture clearly says serenity. If you have any understanding of nature and how peaceful it looks when their is balance you can decipher that it is a clear representation of how if we as humans find a way to peacefully coexist with nature. We can find happiness and feel good about exalting in its beauty. Also knowing a back story of the piece could also limit your perception. You might look and say why is this preacher man talking to birds and waving his hands he looks crazy. You might think he supposed to be talking to humans not animals. Causing you to miss the whole point of how the ability to participate in connecting with nature means you have a strong sense of serenity within you. Animals pick up on instinct and react in fear, so essentially they fear because you fear. Matching the vibration of nature requires balance and connection with the higher source(God). It is not an easy thing to look past self and ego. In the book if described his humility in how he paid attention to things that went ignored and unappreciated by society. I also noticed that in the sky there was one more bird flying down. I think this is very unique. It is unique because of the way birds have order. All the birds to me on the ground seemed to be situated yet divided into to lines rather than scattering and if I am not mistaken birds also fly in a straight line. So the bird from the sky sees this happening and naturally wants to join to see what's going on. It stood out to me because it was like the more that he showed them love ...the greater his influence became because more decided to come in peaceful. Even with his hands the way that he opens them up its like he is saying with open arms all are welcome and the beauty of nature is all appreciated.