The Goldfinch is a painting of a chained goldfinch by Carel Fabritius, a
Dutch Golden Age artist. Signed and dated 1654, it is now in the
collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague, Netherlands. The work is a
trompe-l'œil oil on panel measuring 33.5 by 22.8 centimetres (13.2 in
× 9.0 in) that was once part of a larger structure, perhaps a window
jamb or a protective cover. A common and colourful bird with a pleasant
song, the goldfinch was used in Italian Renaissance painting as a symbol
of Christian redemption and the Passion of Jesus. The Goldfinch is
unusual for Dutch Golden Age painting in the simplicity of its
composition and use of illusionary techniques. After Fabritius was
killed in the gunpowder explosion that destroyed much of the city of
Delft in 1654, the painting was lost for more than two centuries before
its rediscovery in Brussels. It plays a central role in the Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and its film
adaptation.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldfinch_%28painting%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1864:
American Civil War: General Sherman's frontal assault against
the Confederate Army of Tennessee failed, but did not stop the Union
Army from advancing on Atlanta.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kennesaw_Mountain>
1905:
First Russian Revolution: The crew of the Russian battleship
Potemkin began a mutiny against their oppressive officers.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_battleship_Potemkin>
1976:
The first identifiable case of Ebola occurred in Sudan.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola>
2015:
Ignition of corn starch caused a dust fire at a water park in
New Taipei City, Taiwan, killing 12 people and injuring more than 400
others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_New_Taipei_water_park_fire>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
pushbike:
1. (Australia, New Zealand, Britain, informal) A pedal bicycle, as
distinguished from a motorized bicycle.
2. (intransitive, Australia, New Zealand, Britain, informal) To travel
by pushbike.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pushbike>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
To know the history of philosophy is to know that the highest
thinkers of the ages, the seers of the tribes and the nations, have been
optimists. The growth of philosophy is the story of man's spiritual
life.
--Helen Keller
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Helen_Keller>