On the morning of October 12, 1654, a "thunderclap" was heard in the city of Delft. A colossal explosion at a powder magazine destroyed an entire neighborhood, claiming hundreds of lives and maiming thousands more. Among the victims was a young pupil of Rembrandt, the author of the famous masterpiece "The Goldfinch", Karel Fabricius. He is destined to lie under the ruins, amidst smoke and suffocating dust, next to his own canvas, for six long hours. Help came too late.Talking about what preceded the tragedy, about the life of Fabricius and his work, writer and art critic Laura Cumming takes the reader into the world of the 17th century Netherlands - the world in which Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jacob van Ruysdael, Adrian Korte, Gerard Terborch and many other outstanding painters lived and worked. The golden age of Dutch painting is closely intertwined in her narrative with Scotland of the 20th century and modern London, and the fate of the talented Delft painter is with the fate of the artist James Cumming, the author's father. Artfully combining art criticism and memoirs, Cumming creates an amazing, touching and profound story about the crushing power of art. Almost more is known about the death of Karel Fabricius than about his life. He died in 1654 due to a fatal combination of circumstances when a powder magazine exploded in Delft. Almost all traces of Fabricius have sunk into oblivion. Some art historians do not pay due attention to the figure of Fabricius, others consider him only the missing link between Rembrandt and Vermeer.In fact, Fabricius' work is unique. Hardly more than a dozen of his paintings have survived to this day. But each of them is a masterpiece. Laura Cumming explores the life of Fabricius and his legacy after the Delft tragedy, the work of those around him — the masters of the Golden Age of Dutch painting — and the fate of his own father, a Scottish artist.This is a book about what painting means to us, how it can enter our lives and change it in an instant.