The Gilded Cage is an oil painting on canvas by the English painter Evelyn De Morgan, from 1901-1902: it is on loan from the De Morgan Collection to the Watts Gallery.
Description
In the painting, a woman looks out of a window. Her outstretched hand forms a gesture of yearning as she watches a group of dancers and musicians. The principal figure among the travelling group is a woman who dances while holding her baby, suggesting that the scene also represents maternal duty. Broken jewellery and a book lie on the floor.
A bird soars free above the dancers, which contrasts sharply to the captive bird in the gilded cage hanging near the woman's distraught older husband.