# Iconoclasm in a Church

- By: Dirck van Delen (Heusden (dorp), 1604–1671)
- Date: 1630
- Medium: oil paint (paint), oak (wood)
- Classification: painting
- Dimensions: height 50 cm x width 67 cm
- Credit line: Purchased with the support of the BankGiro Lottery and the Rijksmuseum Fonds
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/SK-A-4992--d8dbe274c1ea612e009f261fff5ec836)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/2e3076f4a79803252810f5f61585ba9e.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

A man on a ladder has placed a noose around the neck of a statue of a saint, while below three men stand ready to topple it from its socle. At the right a statue has been brutally hacked in half. In August 1566 fanatic Protestants destroyed altarpieces, statues and sacred vessels used for the Catholic Mass in countless churches throughout the Netherlands. It was a black day in Dutch history, and one rarely depicted in art.