"The Goldfinch" is a small yet captivating painting by the Dutch artist Carel Fabritius, created in 1654. Despite its modest size, it has become one of the most iconic works from the Dutch Golden Age.

• Title: The Goldfinch

• Artist: Carel Fabritius

• Date: 1654

• Medium: Oil on panel

• Dimensions: 33.5 × 22.8 cm (13.2 × 9 in)

• Location: Mauritshuis, The Hague, Netherlands

The painting shows a single goldfinch perched on a wooden feeder, which is attached to a wall. A delicate chain is attached to the bird’s leg, indicating it is a pet. The background is a flat, plastered wall, which makes the bird’s lifelike presence stand out all the more. The image is rendered with luminous, realistic detail and a subtle use of shadow, light, and texture.

Fabritius was a pupil of Rembrandt and a teacher to Vermeer. Unlike Rembrandt’s dramatic chiaroscuro, Fabritius developed a lighter, more luminous palette and a subtle approach to spatial illusion. The Goldfinch uses a trompe-l'œil (French for "deceive the eye") technique, which makes the painted bird look as if it’s sitting right in front of you in three dimensions.

Tragically, Fabritius died the same year he painted The Goldfinch—killed in the Delft gunpowder explosion, which also destroyed much of his work. This small painting miraculously survived the blast, making it one of the few known works by the artist.

:

• Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Goldfinch (2013) features the painting as a central symbol, catapulting it into popular culture.

• The painting represents fragility, beauty, and survival—both literally (having survived the explosion) and metaphorically in literature and art.

• It’s often noted for its psychological intimacy and quiet, haunting realism.