The history of the Netherlands and the consequences of the Reformation were determining factors of 17th century Dutch painting. At a time when religious subjects were considered to be remnants of "papist" idolatry, painters in protestant countries lost their main source of income and were forced to turn to other genres. At the same time, with the exception of a few portraitists, artists could no longer count on the advantages and security of regular commissions. A tendency to specialise in themes began to develop: - portraiture, street scenes, landscapes, still life. These are the major themes illustrated here by the jolly, unpretentious genre scenes of Jean-Joseph II Horemans, the shady scenes of Paul Bril and Otto Marseus Van Schrieck, and still life genre, which carries illusion to its height and denounces by opposition the vanity of painting; As the church says, Vanitas vanitatum, omnia est vanitas. By emphasising the rôle of light and colour, Dutch artists abandoned compositions with too strict a symmetry in favour of more complex productions.