'Dormant', 2021

Carel Fabritius, b. 1622, Middenbeemster, d. 1654, Delft
The Goldfinch (Dutch: Het puttertje), 1654
(image The Mauritshuis,The Hague, Netherlands via Wikipedia - this work and image is in the public domain)
Link to image source on Wikipedia -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldfinch_(painting)#/media/File:Fabritius-vink.jpg
Link to Wikipedia article about the painting -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goldfinch_(painting)
Painting height: 33.5 cm (13.1 in), Width: 22.8 cm (8.9 in)

My own interpretation

I'm known for painting nocturnes, so my immediate thoughts were of nightime.

Thinking of the age it was painted any electric lighting would be out also the ‘feel’ would be ‘off’. It looks like the bird in the original may be being lit by natural sunlight, so lets light it with moonlight instead, in the cold bluish dark of the middle of the night (ideas of a cold LED streetlamp come to mind and pass quickly on). (Hmm not sure about this… the more I look at the original it appears to have a nearby lighting source rather than a far away one like the sun. Possibly a candle?)

The bird will be asleep but in the same position without having moved. It's feathers will be swelled out due to sleeping but it could also be mistaken for being overfed.

The bird is still, dormant, inactive, inert, asleep.

Though this is a charming painting the bird is captive, no longer free to roam. The chain appears to be gold (reminding me of a bondage similar to that of a gilded cage) hanging with a length of  approximately 20cm? Has its wings been clipped? 

The goldfinch is known for it's beautiful song but in my painting, with it being asleep, it is silent - ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wziM2TYPa_w )

What does a goldfinch symbolise? In Christian symbolism - an emblem of endurance, fruitfulness, and persistence.
[link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_goldfinch#Christian_symbolism ]

I'm treating this as a comment on the past year [2020 ~ 2021] of restricted movement due to lockdown, the night being a thing to be endured with no easily determined end until daylight is in sight. The gaining of weight due to a restriction of movement. The unending boredom, ennui,  An example where a much larger ‘other’ (the owner of the bird in the painting) defines the bounds of what a lone small individual can do. A very gentle libertarian symbolism signifying a limiting of freedom of an individual by a state whose aims seem uncertain.