Refectory

 monastery, refectory

Foto 1: Allegory upon the Synod of Dordrecht:

Following a period of religious argument, the Synod of Dordrecht, a church gathering of the Calvinists, issues the new religious doctrine in 1619. They also decide on the need for an official Dutch Bible translation, the States Bible. The painting pokes fun at the Synod and the existing discord. The fish on the throne is the (Protestant) English King, with next to him a cat (the States of Holland) and a frog (the States of Zeeland). The crowned ape refers to the House of Orange and Nassau, while the rocks symbolises the King of Spain and Catholicism. In the foreground lies the decapitated body of Van Oldenbarnevelt as victim of the religious quarrel. The personification of the dissension takes care of her child.