Assassination of the Brothers Cornelius and Johann de Witt at The Hague [obverse]
1672
![Assassination of the Brothers Cornelius and Johann de Witt at The Hague [obverse] by Pierre Aury](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/nga/thumb/assassination-of-the-brothers-cornelius-and-nga-108157.webp)
Medium
silver
Dimensions
overall (diameter): 7.27 cm (2 7/8 in.) gross weight: 113.46 gr (0.25 lb.) axis: 12:00
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Lisa and Leonard Baskin
Accession Number
1998.108.1.a
Art Historical Context
In 1672, French medallist Pierre Aury crafted this striking silver medal, its obverse vividly capturing the brutal Assassination of the Brothers Cornelius and Johann de Witt The Hague. Measuring just 7.27 cm in diameter and weighing 11346 grams, this intimate sculpture commemorates a pivotal moment during the Netherlands' tumultuous "Disaster Year" (Rampjaar). The De Witts, prominent Grand Pensionary Johan and his brother Cornelius, were savagely lynched by a furious mob amid the French invasion and the Third Anglo-Dutch War, their bodies mutilated in a shocking display of public rage against ...