In this video from the Children’s Video Tour, viewers can explore Aelbert Cuyp’s 17th-century painting “The Mass at Dordrecht.” In Cuyp’s depiction of the island city of Dordrecht, the river Mass is full of activity, housing a large fleet of naval ships. In 1646, a group of ships with 30,000 soldiers aboard arrived in the Dutch harbor of Dordrecht in... order to negotiate the end of a long war against Spanish rule and to establish the Dutch Republic’s independence. Notice the blue, white, and red striped flags in the painting—these are the flags of the Dutch Republic. What do you suppose the river looked like once all the ships departed? On view in the West Building, Gallery 49. http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=576