In Egyptian mysticism, the Phoenix is a beautiful, lone bird which consumed its physical self in fire (symbolizing the spirit), rising renewed from the ashes to start another long life more beautiful than before. The Benu bird is the physical Egyptian emblem of the great Phoenix and was the symbol of immortality, for "at the end of the inundation, recalling the primordial waters, dryness appears in the form of the first small hill, and the ash-colored heron, the Benu bird, glides majestically down and rests upon the little hill," life returns, life continues (Pyramid texts, 1652).

An excellent work by an artist who is highly regarded. The mythological theme of the painting fits in with other works by John Bray and John Cullinane already in the Collection.