Carel Fabritius - The goldfinch

In 1654 Fabritius painted this goldfinch, recognisable by the red on its head and the bright yellow marking on its black wing. These birds had long been popular house pets. This one, too, lived in captivity, attached to a chain. Goldfinches were often taught to perform tricks, such as lowering a thimble-sized cup into a glass to draw their own drinking water. The Dutch verb putten, meaning to draw water from a well, gave the bird its nickname – puttertje. This painting is one of around 15 works known to have been made by Fabritius, who died tragically young. He painted it in 1654, shortly before he died in the explosion of the Delft powder magazine – a disaster which destroyed a large part of the city. This small painting was presumably conceived as a trompe-l'oeil, a ‘deception of the eye’. It was made to hang high on the wall, as is evident from the lower semicircular perch – added later to heighten the trompe-l’oeil effect – which we view from beneath. Unwitting viewers standing a short distance away could thus be tricked into thinking that a real bird was perched there.		artist Carel Fabritius title The goldfinch period 1654 material paneel dimensions 33.5 x 22.8 cm
Lifelike Fabritius’s painting is a wonder of illusionism. Painted with fluent brushstrokes, the goldfinch, though not depicted in great detail, is very lifelike none the less. Fabritius used a special technique to obtain the thin black stripe in the yellow marking on the wing. He applied the yellow thickly, and then, when the paint was still wet, made a long scratch in it. This laid bare the black layer underneath, producing the stripe. Fabritius had learned this technique from his teacher, Rembrandt. The illusion of space is heightened by the harsh light and the dark shadow cast on the white wall. The damaged spot in the plaster near the shadow creates the illusion of tangibility.
Adjustments The painting looked different at first. Technical research has shown that Fabritius changed it later on. The lower perch was not there originally, and the picture was framed by a broad band of black. Some kind of frame was probably attached to it, since nail holes are still visible. A digital reconstruction shows how the painting might have looked. Fabritius probably changed the painting to enhance its trompe-l’oeil effect, which is much greater without a frame and with the extra perch.
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