The Goldfinch is one of those paintings which has gained celebrity status not just as a result of its artistic brilliance, but also because it lent its name to a successful work of fiction, in this case Donna Tartt's eponymous novel. Like The Girl with a Pearl Earring, this novel has, inevitably, also been made into a film - although not with quite the same success. Nevertheless, this has also served to boost the fame of the painting which inspired it.

Despite the popularity of the image itself, the artist who created it is still not a household name. However, Carel Fabritius was undoubtedly one of Rembrandt's most brilliant students, and would probably have rivalled the 'greats' of the Dutch Golden Age if he hadn't been killed in 1654 at the tragically young age of 32. The Goldfinch survives as possibly his last, and certainly his most famous painting. However, his other works are all wonderfully painted and, as often as not, remarkably experimental. In this talk we will look at his surviving works, and see how his experiments into the purpose and function of art are a perfect expression of the culture obsessions of 17th Century Delft, interests which were shared by the city's most famous son, Vermeer. Fabritius was one of the major influences on the younger artist, and both shared a fascination with the evocation of the real and the magic of illusion. We will, of course, examine the relationship between them.