The Child holds a string. At the end of it, a goldfinch waits with a red mask and charcoal wings, as if the next second of the painting might be a tug or a flight. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo’s Madonna of the Goldfinch (about 1767–1770) is a late, quiet canvas from a painter famous for ceilings the size of weather. Here the drama shrinks to a veil, a blue mantle, and a bird that Christian viewers already knew as a sign of the Passion: the goldfinch that feeds among thorns. Quick facts Artist: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770) Date: c. 1767–1770 Medium: Oil on canvas (62 × 49.5 cm) Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1997.60.1; West Building, Gallery M32) Notable fact: A late half-length Madonna from Tiepolo’s last years; the goldfinch on a thread is a traditional emblem of Christ’s coming Passion Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Madonna of the Goldfinch, c. 1767–1770. Oil on canvas. Source: National Gallery of Art,...