Interior of Nieuwe Kerk in Delft with the Tomb of William the Silent

The Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Delft is the burial place of rulers from the House of Orange-Nassau. In the choir of the church stands the tomb of William the Silent, leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish, designed by Hendrick the Keyser. This marble mausoleum, richly decorated with bronze statues, became a popular subject for Dutch painters in the seventeenth century. The earliest painted image was made by Bartholomeus van Bassen in 1620, followed by Dirck van Delen in 1645, both of whom placed the monument inside an imaginary Gothic church.