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The Great (or St. Lawrence’s) Church in Alkmaar was built in the Brabantine Gothic style for Catholic worship in the period 1470–1518. After the change of power in 1572 known as the “Alteration,” the building was renovated to accommodate Protestant services, during which operation many of its artworks were lost. St. Lawrence’s Church has been used as a museum and cultural center, and a venue for meetings, since 1995.
The painting collection includes four works from 1350–1750. The oldest is a “maquette painting” from 1470–1480 by the Master of Alkmaar. When the church was being completed in 1516-1519, the choir vault was decorated with the painting The Last Judgement by Jacob van Oostsanen. After the Alteration, a new organ was installed against the west façade, on which Caesar van Everdingen painted The Triumph of King Saul in 1641–1646, after a design by Jacob van Campen. Above the organ on the wall, Romeyn De Hooghe painted Virtue Crushing Vice in 1693.
Gert van Kleef, Consultant on the Monuments and Art of St. Lawrence’s Church, Alkmaar (January 2023)