Carel Fabritius: The Goldfinch (1654)

(Mauritshuis, The Hague, The Netherlands)

A painting by the Dutch artist Carel Fabritius (1622-1654). Carel Fabritius was a pupil of Rembrandt but later developed his own style. In the 1650s he moved from Amsterdam to Delft and set up a studio there. Unfortunately, he was killed at a young age during the explosion of the Delft gunpowder magazine on October 12, 1654. With the explosion a large part of his work was also destroyed so there are only 12 paintings of him left. This trompe-l'œil, of a goldfinch is his best-known painting and was probably saved from the ruins of his destroyed home. These birds were popular pets because they could be trained to draw water from a bowl with a miniature bucket - the Dutch name for the bird, a puttertje (= 'little weller) refers to that custom. Painting from 1654.