The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers, Jan de Baen (attributed to), c. 1672 - c. 1675

The Corpses of the De Witt Brothers, Jan de Baen (attributed to), c. 1672 - c. 1675

oil on canvas, h 69.5cm × w 56cm More details

The ultimate humiliation: the nude, flayed corpses of Johan and Cornelis de Witt on public display in the Groene Zoodje, the execution ground on the Vijverberg in the middle of The Hague. On 20 August 1672 they were assassinated by their political opponents. Johan had been the most powerful man in the Republic for close to twenty years, steadfastly supported by his brother Cornelis. But they were held responsible for everything that went wrong in the year 1672, known as the ‘Year of Disaster’.

On display in room 2.18 Visit via the Highlights 1650-1700 tour

Listen to audio fragment (from the multimedia tour)

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