| Artist: | Saint George Hare |
| Backcolor: |
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| City: | Stourhead |
| Height Metric: | 127 |
| Medium: | Oil on canvas |
| Metric Unit: | cm |
| The Gilded Cage | |
| Width Metric: | 101.5 |
| Year: | 1908 |
The Gilded Cage is a 1908 oil painting by Irish artist Saint George Hare, one of several of his shackled female images including his more famous The Victory of Faith.
It depicts a lone, sleeping woman shackled by the wrists to a column while butterflies fly past. Its title may have been inspired by the 1900 song "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" and the painting may have symbolic meaning.[1]
According to the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia, "The depiction of naked women in chains seemed to hold a special interest for Hare, and he returned to the subject frequently".[2]
Despite the captive's partial nudity, she retains her innocence as her state of being disrobed is forced upon her by her captors rather than being her own choice.