The Old Church in Delft with the Tomb of Admiral Tromp

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. When the Netherlands became a Protestant nation in the late 1500s, its elaborate Gothic churches were usually stripped of their Catholic 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.

War heroes were touted as moral and patriotic models for citizens of all walks of life to emulate. Hendrik 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.