15 x 10.5 cm postcard of the artwork The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius from the Mauritshuis Collection, The Hague.
One of the most iconic paintings in the world, The Goldfinch travelled to the Scottish National Gallery in 2016, from its home in the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis The Hague. The painting has never before been shown in Scotland, and has only been exhibited in the UK on a handful of occasions.
The Goldfinch is a 1654 animal painting by Carel Fabritius of a chained goldfinch. This painting shows a European goldfinch on top of its feeder that is attached to the wall. The feeder consists of two half rings and a blue container. The bird is sitting on the top ring, to which it is chained by its foot.
Carel Fabritius is often seen as the link between two giants of Dutch painting: Rembrandt van Rijn, in whose workshop he was a star pupil and Johannes Vermeer.
It is presumed that much of Fabritius’s work was lost, and only around a dozen of his paintings survive. Among these The Goldfinch, which was painted in the year he died, is considered by many to be his masterpiece.
