The free bird

The free bird is a popular art piece hanging in the art museum in the falling city. It isn't that much the motive, depicting a bird flying through a forest at dawn, but the story behind it that people find facinating. The comissioner of the paiting had asked the painter to paint a bird flying out of a birdcage, meant to symbolize how she had managed to overcome a dark past. The painter started his work, and after months of not showing a glimpse of it, revealed the painting to her. When she saw the bird wasn't, in fact, flying out of a birdcage but rather flying through the forest she asked the painter why he had changed it. He then answered that, while he loved the idea of her wanting to show her pride of breaking free, he didn't think she wanted that in the long run. After all, each time she saw the painting, she would be reminded of the events. Seeing that birdcage, which symbolized everything that held her back, every day would never let her move on. He argued, that since she now was free, she didn't need the birdcage. Instead he let the dawn symbolize the new beggining. Instead of looking back, he wanted her to look foward. The phrase "You're a free bird now" has become a popular saying, and is supposedly from this conversation. The paitning itself if also wellknown, even though a normal eey might just see it as nice to look at. Someone used to looking at art however, will find that it's beutifully painted. The forest, if a simple scene is soft and capures the warm sun just breaking through the leaves. The birds feathers are vividly painted, making you almost feel the beatings of its wings. The painting was donated to the museum by the commisioner in her will.