The Old Church in Delft with the Tomb of Admiral Tromp
Artist: Hendrik Cornelisz. van Vliet (Dutch, ca. 1611-1675)
Date: 1658
Dimensions:
painting: 48 3/4 x 43 3/4 in. (123.5 x 111 cm)
framed: 58 1/4 x 53 x 3 1/2 in. (148 x 134.6 x 8.9 cm)
Medium: oil on canvas
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey
Object number: 1984.80
Label Text:Interior views of the vast spaces and whitewashed walls of Dutch churches became a specialized category of painting in the Dutch Republic (now the Netherlands) in the 1600s. Because the Netherlands became a Protestant nation in the late 1500s, its elaborate Gothic churches were usually stripped of their Catholic artwork: altarpieces, crucifixes, and stained glass windows. In their place, tombs of fallen war heroes were erected, like the tomb of Admiral Marten Tromp (1598-1653) given prominence in this painting of the interior of the Old Church (Oude Kerk) in Delft.
Tromp died in the naval Battle of Terheide during the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652-1654. War heroes were touted as moral and patriotic models for citizens of all walks of life to emulate. Van Vliet suggests this idea of moral instruction by including children in the group of tourists gathered around the tomb, since children were thought to learn best by example. Even the children playing a game in the foreground seem to have been inspired by the monument: look for the red chalk graffiti of a battleship on the column near the boys.
Tromp died in the naval Battle of Terheide during the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652-1654. War heroes were touted as moral and patriotic models for citizens of all walks of life to emulate. Van Vliet suggests this idea of moral instruction by including children in the group of tourists gathered around the tomb, since children were thought to learn best by example. Even the children playing a game in the foreground seem to have been inspired by the monument: look for the red chalk graffiti of a battleship on the column near the boys.
On view
In Collection(s)