Penning op de dood van de gebroeders De Witt, 1672 1672 - 1699

Curator: This intriguing image is a commemorative medal titled "Penning op de dood van de gebroeders De Witt, 1672." It was crafted sometime between 1672 and 1699, and you can see it here at the Rijksmuseum. The print, likely an engraving, depicts the two brothers De Witt. Editor: Well, right away, there’s something stark about this circular, coin-like presentation—two heads almost Siamese-twin-like on one side, and a flurry of dense text on the other. It gives me the shivers! The precision of the engraving is almost clinical. Curator: Yes, the medal format certainly has its own set of conventions. Here, it serves as a somber historical record, even a lament. Look at the inscription circling the brothers' portraits: it speaks of their violent deaths. The image freezes them together in history and perhaps implies their shared destiny. Editor: And those expressions... so serious, almost grim. There's an unflinching quality about the way their portraits have been rendered. It feels like they are already staring into the abyss. What's fascinating is the juxtaposition; beautiful craft commemorating brutal death. A narrative in two parts: portrait, poetry, agony and commemoration. Curator: Precisely. The text on the other side acts as an epitaph. Remember the brothers De Witt were powerful figures who met a gruesome end—a politically charged assassination. The medal seeks to eternalize them, albeit in the context of their tragedy, ensuring the event becomes memorialized as a stark historical lesson. Editor: It’s strange how something so small and contained—the size of the medal is so tangible—can convey such an intense sense of loss. And think of how many hands this passed through; a pocket-sized piece of political commentary. Curator: And remember that such commemorative objects also perform a political act, keeping alive the memory of what was and influencing current sentiments. In Dutch collective memory, the De Witt brothers continue to be emblems of a turbulent past, with their demise a chilling reminder of the dangers inherent in political factionalism. Editor: Exactly. Looking at this piece makes you wonder, doesn’t it? About who they were, who hated them and why. Even as an engraving on a coin, I have to say: art makes the memory live on.