The brothers Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelius tortured, disembowelled and torn to pieces in the market-place of The Hague in 1672. Etching.

The two brothers are tied to a pole and disembowelled while a thief is trying to disappear with the victims' clothes under his arm, but is detected by a mounted horseman

Johan de Witt (1625-1672) was was one of the foremost European statesmen of the seventeenth century who as councillor pensionary guided the United Provinces in the First and Second Anglo-Dutch wars and consolidated the nation's naval and commercial power. In 1672 Louis XIV declared war and invaded the United Provinces. The voice of the people called William III to the head of affairs and voiced their discontent with Johan de Witt. His brother Cornelius was arrested on charge of conspiring against the Prince. Cornelius was put to the torture and sentenced to deprivation of his offices and banishment. Johan visited him in the Gevangenpoort at The Hague. A crowd, hearing this, burst in the prison, seized the two brothers and tore them to pieces

[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]

1 print : etching, with engraving ; image 18 x 24.7 cm

Spiegel van staet, vertoont in Meerster Cornelis en Jan de Wit. ... Extensive lettering in Dutch in the form of a poem underneath the print

Wellcome Collection 43503i