The Mauritshuis soars with latest exhibition BIRDS
Review of 'BIRDS: Curated by ‘The Goldfinch’ and Simon Schama': 5/5 stars
Mauritshuis pulls out all the stops with its latest exhibition. BIRDS: Curated by ‘The Goldfinch’ and Simon Schama is a chamber of wonders that uncovers the mystique of birds.
Using various mediums across history, BIRDS tells a poignant story about our storied history with birds, captivating audiences with wonder and a telling of our own cruelty. For a museum that seemingly often curates for niches, the Mauritshuis delights widely with this extraordinary exhibition, doing justice to the very animals that inspired it in the first place.
The Goldfinch
Front and centre of the exhibition is The Goldfinch (1654) by Carel Fabritius. A mainstay in the permanent collection of the Mauritshuis, the exhibition calls viewers to look even closer at the painting and examine our relationship with birds.
Fabritius paints but a simple goldfinch shackled by a delicate chain to its feeding trough. The bird is a beauty, painted with simple brushstrokes that give an air of etherealness even 370 years later.
The bird looks past the viewer with intricately painted eyes, alert but calm. His wings are folded against his tender chestnut body. A gold streak catches the eye against the darkened feathers.
We find amazement in birds with their ability to reach other realms with their wings, so it is a cruel twist that he is chained for our amusement as we deprive him of what he is fundamentally meant to do — fly. It makes for a somber painting. One that speaks to the bird’s beauty, our own cruelty, and the sadness of a captured soul.
Here at the exhibition, the goldfinch’s typical meanings of fertility and good health are eschewed for two others. Firstly, our consumption of animals. And secondly, the longing for freedom — our desire to transcend the ordinary with wings that lift us beyond our own realities.
Small Gallery of Wonders
The Goldfinch makes a good starting point for the rest of the exhibition that highlights how we have used birds in various manners — as objects of worship, as components to adorn ourselves with, as targets and facilitators of hunts, as sustenance for nourishment.
Despite the small gallery hall, the breadth of mediums and time periods of objects on display are notable. Egyptian mummies are displayed here, as are Golden Age favourites, and contemporary sculptures. Each piece carries a story that differentiates it from others.
The Goldfinch is in good company. Fabritius’s work hangs alongside heavyweights from the permanent collection and loaned works. The ability to procure works by various artists with such pedigrees must be lauded here. It is not often that works by Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, and Henri Matisse are in the same room.
As The Goldfinch begins the exhibition, Constantin Brâncuși’s modern Bird in Space (1932-1940) sculpture ends it. Grounded by a concrete block, the highly polished brass tapers towards the sky. It impresses the feeling of transcending the constraints of the material world — escaping to unchained freedom where The Goldfinch could not.
Art for Art vs. Art for You
The Mauritshuis holds an exceptional and niche collection of Golden Age art that perhaps often constrains their exhibition subjects. I find many of their previous temporary exhibitions aesthetically lovely, but perhaps more accessible to art history majors who have insider knowledge on a painting’s relevance.
This is where BIRDS differs. The exhibition explores more socially relevant themes, displays a diversity of mediums across history, and lays bare narrations about these objects. Ergo, it is easy to find connection and intrigue within the exhibition hall.
Great art is productive. It shines light on everyday phenomena. It makes you feel something. It makes your mind wander in the days after. And BIRDS does just that.
It makes you pay attention to the chirps you hear in the morning. It pulls your awareness to the soaring silhouettes in the sky. It creates a starting point to explore ordinary curiosities.
Because when you are finally aware, it is easy to see the everyday cruelties, wonders, and beauties we live with.
BIRDS: Curated by ‘The Goldfinch’ and Simon Schama runs from February 12th, 2026 through June 7th, 2026.
The Hague Review: 5/5 stars
