The lack of demand for religious paintings in the post-Reformation Dutch Republic meant that artists turned to other subjects. Scenes of everyday life became immensely popular.

This room is filled with down-to-earth images: naturalistic landscapes and scenes of work and play, from a woman milking a cow and an officer dictating a love letter to the spicy goings-on in taverns and soldiers’ camps.

Hendrick Avercamp’s A Scene on the Ice near a Town imagines the full spectrum of 17th-century Dutch society – rich and poor, young and old – going about their lives in a frozen landscape.

These playful, everyday scenes often contained a serious moral message. For example, the futile attempt of alchemists to transform base metals into silver and gold was used to satirise human nature.

‘Merry company’ scenes were also popular. While music symbolised the harmony of true love, such pictures were often intended to condemn foolish or extravagant behaviour.