The Tomb of William the Silent in the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft

In the Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church, in the city of Delft, some visitors are looking at the tomb of William of Orange, the Father of the Fatherland. Our view of the monument is obstructed by the large white column bearing seventeenth-century graffiti.

Houckgeest was an important innovator of the Dutch church interior. He was the first artist to depict spaces using a diagonal perspective, rather than in their length or breadth, thus giving the scene a more accidental, natural effect.