The Goldfinch, Carel Fabritius, 1654

Dutch Golden Age · 1654

The Goldfinch

Carel Fabritius 1622–1654

Mauritshuis · The Hague

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The story of The Goldfinch

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Chapter 1 of 7

A Bird Against the Wall

One of the smallest masterpieces in Western painting — a goldfinch on a wooden feeder against a pale wall. Carel Fabritius painted this in sixteen fifty-four, the year he died when a gunpowder magazine levelled much of Delft. The painting carries that absence quietly.

Where to see it

Mauritshuis

The Hague

Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.

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