De aanval door de menigte op Johan en Cornelis de Witt, 1672 1672 - 1799

This etching, made in 1672 by an anonymous artist, depicts the gruesome attack on Johan and Cornelis de Witt. A vengeful mob surrounds the brothers, weapons raised. Consider the raised weapons; this gesture evokes images of sacrificial offerings from antiquity, here twisted into an act of brutal retribution. This motif echoes through time, appearing in Renaissance depictions of martyrdoms, where saints meet their violent ends, and recurs even in modern protest imagery, illustrating humanity’s volatile relationship with power and justice. The mob's frenzy reflects a collective psychological breakdown, a regression to primal instincts. The emotional intensity of such scenes taps into our subconscious, stirring deep-seated fears and moral questions about group behavior. This primal scene of the hunt, the ritualistic slaying, transcends its immediate historical context, reminding us of the cyclical nature of violence and scapegoating throughout human history. The image becomes a mirror reflecting the darker aspects of our shared past, continuously re-emerging in various guises across the epochs.