Wounded Heron (by George Frederick Watts) Playing Cards

This design features a painting by the British symbolist artist George Frederick Watts (1817–1904). It depicts a heron that has been wounded before it has fallen out of the sky and landed on the ground. The bird is clearly badly injured. The heron is crumpled on the floor with its neck twisted and its clawed feet up in the air. Its mouth is wide open, as though it is screeching in agony. Its wings are spread, but the bird no longer seems to be capable of flight. The heron is in a desolate landscape, but there is a man riding a white horse in the background: he is looking up at the sky, as though he had heard the cries of the heron before it feel to earth. The original artwork was painted by G.F. Watts in 1837.