Mauritshuis, a museum in The Hague, Netherlands, has an exquisite collection of Dutch Golden Age paintings. For a long time, the “crown jewel” of their collection was Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.” Everything changed in 2013 with the publication of Donna Tartt’s novel “The Goldfinch,” which became a bestseller and won the Pulitzer Prize. The book takes its title from an artwork by the 17th-century Dutch artist Carel Fabritius.
His exquisite trompe l’oeil painting of a goldfinch has been part of the Mauritshuis’ collection since 1896. While long revered by scholars, it was little-known by the general public before the eponymous novel. Now, visitors clamor to see this small—only 13 1/4 inches by 9 inches—oil on panel painting that has become world-famous.
