Fabritius, Carel (1622-1654),
Dutch painter, whose few remaining works show him to have been the most gifted of the artists who studied under Rembrandt. His short career was spent in Delft, where he joined the painters' guild in 1652; his career was cut short by the explosion of Delft's gunpowder factory in 1654, in which much of his work was destroyed and he was killed.

His earliest existing work, Raising of Lazarus (1643?, National Museum, Warsaw), is reminiscent of Rembrandt's work in composition and gesture but lacks the master's psychological depth.

His later works (only a small number remain) are more original, concentrating on realistic perspective and the depiction of bright daylight effects. The Goldfinch (1654, Mauritshuis, The Hague), with its careful composition, brilliant background, and precise colors, prefigures the technique of Jan Vermeer, who may have been Fabritius's pupil.