Ah, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of my favorite romantics. And my favorite work of his by far is The Rime of The Ancient Mariner. This narration is of a man who has been punished for killing an albatross and must wander the earth telling his tale, relating the moral that a good Christian respect and praise all of gods creatures.
I find there to be a strong parallel of the killing of the bird to the story of Jesus's crucifixion. The Albatross itself seems to have some Godly presence to itself. Since the whole tale reverberates with these themes of religion, I have put this into my interpretation of the poem. My painting therefore depicts the albatross, with a reflection in the ocean of a cross to represent its religious symbolism. I have painted it with the bird still alive, but I created storm clouds on the horizon as a symbol of what is to come.
