Assassination of the Brothers Cornelius and Johann de Witt at The Hague [obverse]

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 perceived treason. Aury's work exemplifies 17th-century commemorative medal art, a Baroque-era tradition blending fine sculpture with historical narrative. Struck in high-relief silver with a precise 12:00 axis, it showcases masterful engraving techniques that convey raw drama and emotion on a portable scale—ideal for circulation as political commentary or souvenir. Such medals served as "news in miniature," disseminating events to the elite and literate public. Today, this piece, a gift from Lisa and Leonard Baskin to the National Gallery of Art, invites reflection on the fragility of power and the power of imagery in times of crisis, reminding us how art freezes history's darkest chapters for posterity.