Three studies of the Northern Cardinal across the year. The same bird at three moments. The same style. The same restrained Audubon-style palette of cream, navy, sage, dogwood white and cardinal red.

The three prints in the set:

1. Cardinal Solo - Male in full spring plumage, alert posture, perched on an arching dogwood branch. The portrait piece.
2. Cardinal Pair - Male and female together on a snow-touched branch. The mate-feeding moment in mid-March, the male having just handed a sunflower seed to the female’s bill. The relationship piece.
3. Cardinal in Snow - Male alone on a holly branch in fresh snow, breath visible in cold air. The winter piece.

The three are designed to hang together as a triptych or to be split across separate rooms. The colour palette is identical across all three; the composition logic is consistent; each plate stands alone but the set reads as a single editorial argument about what the cardinal is.

Sizes and prices

Size	Per print	Set total	Saving vs three singles
A4	21 x 29.7 cm	€95	€19 saving (3 x €38 = €114)
A3	29.7 x 42 cm	€148	€26 saving (3 x €58 = €174)
A2	42 x 59.4 cm	€235	€41 saving (3 x €92 = €276)

Paper and edition

Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm, acid-free, 100% cotton, archival rating exceeds 100 years under standard framing conditions.

Open edition. Each individual print is numbered sequentially within its size.

Why the set

Three reasons one cardinal at a time is not enough.

The cardinal is a year-round bird. A single portrait shows him at one moment. The set shows him across the year - spring (the solo), summer-into-autumn (the pair), winter (the snow plate). The story of the cardinal is the story of a bird who does not migrate, and a single image cannot tell that story.

The pair work matters. The Cardinal Pair plate is the one most people who buy this set come for. The pair-bond is one of the defining behavioural facts about the species (see Do cardinals mate for life), and the mate-feeding moment captured in the plate is a behaviour almost no other common backyard bird performs in public.

The winter plate carries the Christmas weight. For households where the cardinal symbolises a departed loved one (see How the cardinal became a Christmas bird), the Cardinal in Snow is the plate that matters at Christmas and through the bereavement calendar. The piece is not specifically Christmas-themed but it does the symbolic work without the seasonal cliche.

How to hang the set

Three configurations work well:

• Horizontal triptych: A4 or A3 prints in a single row at viewer eye height, 15 cm of wall between each. The natural reading order is Solo, Pair, Snow - left to right, the year unfolding.
• Vertical stack: A4 prints in a single column, 12 cm between each. Works in stairwells and narrow walls.
• Split rooms: Solo and Pair in the main living space; Snow in a quieter room (bedroom, study). The Snow plate carries enough symbolic weight that it can work as a standalone in a contemplative space.

Framing: 5 cm cream or off-white mount, thin natural-wood frame. Avoid black frames - they fight the warmth of the paper. Indirect daylight only; direct sun fades the red over decades.

Shipping

Rolled in a single acid-free archival tube. Tracked international delivery from Ireland. Standard dispatch within three working days of order. Customs duty for shipments outside the EU is the recipient’s responsibility.

About the bird

The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven US states - more than any other species. He does not migrate. The female sings nearly as much as the male, which is unusual in North American songbirds. The pair stays together year-round and often across multiple years. The male’s red comes from carotenoid pigments absorbed through his autumn diet, which means a well-fed cardinal in October becomes a brighter cardinal the following March.

Full natural history at the Northern Cardinal field guide.

Size	Dimensions	Price
A4 set	3 prints at 21 x 29.7 cm	€95
A3 set	3 prints at 29.7 x 42 cm	€148
A2 set	3 prints at 42 x 59.4 cm	€235

Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm.