Leven van seriemoordenares Maria Swanenburg after 1885

Roelof Raar made this print, “Life of Serial Murderer Maria Swanenburg”, sometime in the late 19th century, using etching and aquatint. The image is a macabre cartoon rendering the crimes and punishment of a woman who murdered dozens in the city of Leiden. In the Netherlands at this time, serial murder was a novel phenomenon, sensationalized by the press and represented in popular imagery. Raar’s print draws on this sensationalism, and even feeds it. Around Swanenburg’s portrait, the artist depicts scenes of poisoning, the resulting deaths, the suspect in custody, and finally the long procession to her prison. The skeletons, snakes, and other symbolic tropes are heavy-handed, but typical for popular prints of the period. They invite us to ponder the relationship between justice, spectacle, and public perception. What was the role of such imagery in shaping public opinion about criminality? To understand this more fully, we need to research the popular press, police reports, and court records of the time. Only then can we understand the intersection of justice, crime, and representation.