Risen Christ amid a Flutter of Butterflies Easter Pedestal Sign

Proclaim the message of Easter on a table, shelf, or desktop with a pedestal sign featuring the Risen Christ amid a flutter of butterflies! + In Christian iconography, the butterfly’s meaning is twofold: it stands for the soul and for Christ. As Christians, we are called upon to embark on a spiritual journey and to transform our lives from being earthbound and preoccupied with worldly concerns to being oriented heavenwards and concerned with spiritual matters. The butterfly emerging from its chrysalis is also a traditional metaphor for Christ rising from the grave on Easter Sunday and, by extension, for the resurrection of all the dead. + The image on this Easter house flag is an adaptation of an Easter devotional print. In the original, the figure of Jesus is surrounded with cherub heads. We have substituted Painted Lady butterflies (Vanessa cardui) for the cherubim. Painted Lady butterflies are the most ubiquitous variety worldwide and their coloration of orange, yellow, and black blends particularly well with this print. Incidentally, “flutter” is the proper collective noun for butterflies for obvious reasons. (Cf., say, a flight of stairs, a clouder of cats, or an orchard of fruit trees.) + The image is also available in its original state as the Risen Christ amid a Compass of Cherubim (q.v.). + Image Credit (M 069): Adaptation of an antique image from a German devotional print in chromolithography simply titled Ostern [Easter], original publisher unknown, late 19th century, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera. + Image Credit (Butterflies): The Painted Lady Butterflies have been extracted, adapted, and repurposed from various public domain entomological prints on WikiMedia Commons.