in black, to show an impression of Puritan discipline but the material trimmed with expensive lace shows an awareness of the ‘wealth’ they were experiencing simultaneously. The only portrayal of social experience in source 3, is through the fact that it is painted by a woman, showing the tolerant nature of Dutch society, where feminine expression was allowed. Due to the fact that it is a still life, it presents a figurative message and is a type of vanitas painting, reiterating the above moral view. Verisimilitude is shown within the painting due to its detail, in addition to the obligatory reference to transience with the lizards and slugs eating away at the leaves of the flowers. The fact that this moral message existed seems to be a direct cause of the belief that God was at the heart of the Dutch’s victory from ‘the jaws of defeat’ and therefore any wealth existing must be seen in its religious context.Within these three painting sources can be found the existence of realism which was an important feature of Dutch Art. Superficially, all three paintings convey different aspects of social experience, but it is within this portrayal that the ‘document of beliefs’ can establish itself. This leads on to the conclusion that it was the ‘document of beliefs’ which Dutch Art sought to convey, but that this document could only exist with the ‘social experience’ that caused and was shaped by these beliefs. Dutch Art does therefore show both a ‘literal record of social experience’ and within that experience, a ‘document of beliefs.’ Of course only three paintings have been studied, and interpretation of these paintings can differ, but art is a valuable source to the historian in conveying the social attitudes as expressed both laterally and factually, especially when these attitudes are supported by both contemporary and modern written sources, such as s...
