Bosch Bird With Letter Glass Dome Gift Paperweight 3W

Bird with Letter Paperweight by Parastone illustrates the bird figure in the left panel of a religious triptych by Hieronymus Bosch from the Northern Renaissance. The Bird is one of the many freakish figures which appear in The Temptation of Saint Anthony triptych (c. 1500, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon) which is intended to teach Christian messages to the faithful. Saint Anthony won a lot of praise in Hieronymus Bosch's heyday because he resisted diabolical temptations, in sharp contrast with the ordinary mortals.

This paperweight  is part of the Parastone Mouseion 3D Gift Collection of highly collectible museum reproductions.

• Size: 3 inch diameter (PN PJB2)
• Material: glass with gift box

This birdlike monster wears skates and a tin hat, has a hunchback, and carries a sealed letter in his beak. The inscription on this note could throw a light on the contemplated symbolism of the beast. But unfortunately, this text is difficult to read and open to various interpretations. none of which are proven to be accurate. The postman-like freak is perhaps delivering a letter to the conspiring figures in the hole under the bridge. The funnel on this curious bird's head gives him a preposterous appearance. This headwear is referred to elsewhere as wisdom or absent-mindedness, but that symbolism seems unsuitable here.