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On February 24, Russia and Ukraine officially went to war.
I saw a scene like this in the news:
▲ Young couples who have lost their children (Source Network)
A young couple runs to the hospital with their children injured by the gunfire, however, the child eventually dies in their infancy, and the mother's clothes are still bright red blood...
A month has passed, innocent lives are gone, and inter-state sanctions and counter-sanctions have intensified.
Against this backdrop, we ask that familiar question:
Where is the peace?
When we think of peace, it's easy to think of "peace doves", so —
Why is the dove a symbol of peace?
This statement comes from a story in the Bible —
In ancient times, in order to punish the evil human beings, God sent down a fierce flood, and the world was a vast ocean, leaving only Noah's ark.
▲ Noah's Ark (Source Network)
During the long period of refuge, Noah released different animals to find out what was going on, and the last pigeon returned with a newly twisted olive leaf in his mouth.
▲ Returning Pigeons (Source Network)
From this he knew that the land outside had been exposed to the surface of the water, and the flood was fading little by little.
After a few days, Noah finally stepped out of the ark and set foot on land, and God made a pact with him that he would no longer destroy the world with floods.
After saying that, the rainbow floated into the clouds, witnessing this agreement from then on.
Humanity finally began a new life, after which the doves that brought back the olive branch were regarded as a symbol of peace and security.
However, people outside of Christianity are not familiar with the story.
The dove truly breaks out of the boundaries of Western culture and becomes a "dove of peace" recognized by the whole world, and it also needs a world-class exposure.
And the "behind-the-scenes driver" of its popularity is the great artist Picasso.
▲Picasso (image source network)
His indissoluble relationship with the pigeons has to start from childhood.
It was a very happy little family.
Picasso's father, Mr. Jose, was an art teacher who drew at home every day, in addition to giving lessons to his students.
Jose loved to draw pigeons, often drawing several pigeons and then cutting them all out, then moving and combining them on paper to think of the best composition.
When fiddling with this, he just focused on the picture, and did not pay much attention to the son next to him, and little Picasso quietly stayed by his father's side to observe, often picking up a paintbrush and a blank piece of paper, imitating the appearance of his father's painting, day after day.
▲ Picasso's work when he was 9 years old (source network)
Gradually, before little Picasso could speak, he was able to express himself with the pencil in his hand.
Mr. Jose was pleased with his son's talent, and when the child grew up, he began to develop a teaching plan that allowed Picasso to start with basic sketches.
To this end, he also deliberately raised a large group of pigeons at home, let the little Picasso observe them, and instructed him to portray the appearance and movement of the pigeons. Over time, the pigeon became a companion for little Picasso's growth.
Even decades later, Picasso remembers "a large painting of pigeons, the perch of the pigeon cage crowded with pigeons, thousands of pigeons, I thought the pigeons in The Place Marside flew to my father's canvas." ”
▲ Picasso's childhood paintings (source network)
In fact, is it not his own canvas?
Taught by his father, his childhood with pigeons has always been a hotbed in Picasso's memories, watering his future artistic career.
But the pigeons, there is also a more tenacious strength.
During the war years, when Picasso was confronted with war and the destruction of life, the dove became his memorial to the lost life, his condemnation of the war, and his desire for peace.
In 1940, the fascists captured Paris, France.
In the distance, the cannon roared, and Picasso sat at the table thinking, when there was a knock at the door.
Neighbor Misch stood in the doorway, looking sad, his face covered with scars and holding a pigeon that had lost its breath.
It turned out that the little owner of this pigeon was Mish's grandson Liu Xin.
▲ Picasso once painted "The Child with the Dove in His Hand",
Seems to meet this story in fate (source network)
That day, Liu Xin just put pigeons on the roof as usual, but was targeted by several German soldiers, who suspected that the child was a spy and went to the roof to interrogate him.
Remembering his father who was killed in battle, Liu Xin was furious, and he disregarded his own life and directly rushed up to fight the enemy.
The young children were certainly not the opponents of the soldiers, and the annoyed German soldiers mercilessly threw Liusin down the stairs, and even the pigeons next to them did not escape, and were strangled to death by the enemy one by one.
The old man, in tears, asked Picasso to paint a portrait of a pigeon in honor of his dead grandson.
Picasso immediately agreed and waved it down.
Picasso in painting (source network)
And this pigeon, which was reborn from the blood, will also fly far away, flying to more people.
After the end of the Second World War, there was a brief period of peace in many places, and everyone rebuilt their lives after the war.
In 1949, Paris hosted the first World Peace Congress, and the famous writer Aragon commissioned Picasso to select a relevant propaganda poster for the conference.
Picasso asked him to go to his studio to make a selection, and Aragon was immediately attracted by a dove on a lithograph.
▲(Left) Picasso's work (source network)
(Right) Poster of the First World Peace Conference (Source Network)
It was a quiet, solemn white dove.
It stood where it was with its wings folded, its eyes looking ahead, with a hint of tenacity and persistence in its eyes.
The background is filled with pure black, but the white pigeons appear purer and firmer in the color contrast.
"What a beautiful pigeon, this pigeon that flew from Noah's Ark, is a symbol of peace!" Aragon shouted happily.
In this way, the dove became the symbol of the peace conference and flew from here to all over the world, so that countries outside the West could also grasp the hope of peace that it conveyed.
It is affectionately called the "dove of peace".
▲ This pigeon also appears on Chinese stamps (source network)
The following year, Picasso selected a new painting to present to the World Congress for the Defence of Peace.
(Right) Poster of the World Peace Conference for the Second Year (Source Network)
This is very different from the style of the previous pigeon.
It no longer stays where it is, but spreads its wings and flies into the air.
Picasso clearly used more urgent, powerful lines to depict the wings of the pigeon, and we can feel the strength and movement of its wings.
The feathers on the wings looked a little messy, as if they had experienced a storm.
In it, the artist's own feelings are more intense and full.
As Picasso himself said, "Every painting of mine contains my blood, and that is what my paintings mean".
The artist's personal emotions cannot be hidden in the work, but at the same time, it is this emotional power that gives the artwork an enduring energy that deeply infects us.
By the time the third peace dove was drawn, it was 1952.
The scope of the peace conference was expanded from a local area to the whole world, and the name of the congress became "World Peoples' Peace Congress".
(Right) Poster of the World People's Peace Conference (Source Network)
This time, Picasso's picture appears in a color other than black and white—a rainbow, which we can guess corresponds to Noah's "peace pact" with God, foreshadowing that suffering has passed.
The pigeons open their arms in the middle of the rainbow and fly more confidently in the air than ever before.
The lines are delicate again, and the pigeon's feathers, body contours, eyes and mouth are all clearly portrayed in a single stroke, calmly.
The state of the pigeon is like a projection of Picasso's emotions, it is no longer as depressed and sad as before, nor does it need to exert enough effort to break through the wind and rain, but slowly becomes calm and free.
This picture creates a relaxed atmosphere, and it also means that the most difficult years of world war have passed, and people all over the world have reason to look forward to a more peaceful and stable world with hope.
▲ New peace dove stamps also flew into China (source network)
From his childhood, Picasso painted countless pigeons for himself and for the world.
The pigeon was the romantic and beautiful dream of his childhood, which gave birth to the starting point of his own art; during the war years, the pigeon became a heartbreaking story, representing the commemoration of life.
When the doves gradually opened their arms in his pen and flew from the painful darkness to the blue sky, the three peace doves also flew from the west to the world, bringing Ganlin to all mankind.
The artist conveyed his personal "flesh and blood" in an artistic way, and in that era of smoke and smoke, those works were enough to transcend personal feelings, get close to the public, and be read and remembered by everyone.
Other pigeons painted by Picasso (source network)
This consolation does not require any words, because it is empathetic.
Perhaps this is also the reason why a simple pigeon can become a "classic" work.
It writes the artist's full of feelings; embodies the condensed artistic design; and contains valuable reflection and meaning for all mankind.
To this day, we still need the dove of peace to spread its wings,
Still waiting for it to return from the ruins of the war and bring us a golden olive leaf.