Interior of Nieuwe Kerk, Delft

Church interiors became a separate genre in Holland in the seventeenth century. In Hendrick Cornelisz van Vliet’s painting the church space seems almost like a town square. People gather, look at objects, and let their dogs run loose; a meeting-place rather than a space for religious reverence. At the same time the interior of the church is an expression of the religious conditions in Holland. It …