Ambulatory of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, with the Tomb of William the Silent

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Ambulatory of the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft, with the Tomb of William the Silent

Gerard Houckgeest
1651

57 - zaal 16

This painting of the Nieuwe Kerk, or New Church, in the city of Delft is a real perspectival feat. We are standing in the choir aisle, behind the tomb of William of Orange. We have a wide field of vision: on the left is the nave of the church and on the right the curve of the ambulatory. In order to depict this, Houckgeest used a complex perspectival construction, called ‘diagonal perspective’. He obviously found it difficult, as the black and white tiles on the right are slightly distorted.

oil on panel
65.5 x 77.5 cm.
Collection William V, transferred 1816