Fishing for Souls, 1614 (oil on panel)

Allegory on religious jealousy in the truce period during the Dutch revolt (Eighty Years War) when the Low Countries under the leadership of Protestant William of Orange rebelled against the rule of the Catholic Philip II of Spain. On the sunny, leafy left side the Protestant north Netherlanders have a larger catch than the Catholic southerners as they both fish for souls in the river dividing them. This is a reference to a psalm: the righteous will flourish like a tree bearing fruit, whose leaves never wither. Protestants include the Princes of Orange, Maurice and Frederick Henry, Frederick V of the Palatinate, James I of England and the young Louis XIII of France with his mother Maria de 'Medici, their fishermen's nets marked Faith, Hope & Charity. Catholics include Archduke Albert and Isabella, General Ambrosio Spinola, the Pope, cardinals and priests.