This view of the interior of the 'Grote Kerk' or St Bavo, is from the west door, looking towards the choir, and remains much the same today. The choir was built about 1400, the nave after 1470 and the wooden vaulting was erected between 1530 and 1538. The congregation is seated around and facing the pulpit as is the practice in the Dutch Reformed Church. This is the only known dated interior by Gerrit Berckheyde.
The exterior of the church can be seen in 'The Market Place and the Grote Kerk at Haarlem' also by Berckheyde. The 'Great Church' was a popular subject and is the subject of 'The Interior of the Grote Kerk at Haarlem' by Pieter Saenredam (1597 - 1665). Both these paintings are in the National Gallery's Collection.
