But my own wings were not enough for this,

Had it not been that then my mind there smote

A flash of lightning, wherein came its wish.

-Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Paradise Song XXXIII

• Birds with their agility, lightness, and ability to reach the sky, act as mediators between heaven and earth. They are a symbol of the human spirit.
• In the Bible, a dove brought Noah the good news of land discovered after the Flood.
• A white bird appears as a symbol of the human spirit in other paintings by the artist (Diary of Discoveries, White Flowers if the Sky, and Snowbirds).

Music, just like a bird, is a mediator that helps the human soul break free from the constraints of earthly existence and soar heavenward. Music is as light and fast as a bird-it can “fly up” to the highest note. In the painting, we see the inspirational and dramatic score of Frederic Chopin’s nocturnes, Opus, 9, No. 2.

The Sun is the true master in the painting- the kosmokrator, the ruler of the world, the almighty. Breaking through a “dark curtain” the Sun stretched forth two rays as if they were heavenly hands. The rays tough the piano keys and the music begin. Emanating from this heavenly light, it can be called divine. Just as the Sun brings physical warmth to people, this music brings the warmth of solace to our souls.

The painting reveals a two-way movement, an exchange of sorts. The rays, the messengers of the kosmokrator, come from behind the clouds to the earth, but the music turns into white birds that flutter skyward the moment the rays touch the piano keys.

At the point of crossover or interference of these two waves, man breaks from his earthly nature and gains the ultimate freedom-creative imagination. This is the interplay that helps man the artist express his twofold aesthetic nature.