Verminking van de lichamen van de gebroeders de Witt, 1672 1672

This drawing by Romeyn de Hooghe, made in 1672, depicts a scene of brutal public violence. The central image shows the desecration of the de Witt brothers' bodies, echoing the imagery of sacrificial rituals. Note the frenzied crowd, a motif that appears throughout art history, from ancient bacchanals to revolutionary mobs. Consider how this image is charged with collective emotion and primal instinct, a dark undercurrent of human behavior. The impaled bodies, displayed high on makeshift gallows, recall the iconographic language of martyrdom but inverted, twisted into a spectacle of vengeful triumph. Public dismemberment isn't unique to the Dutch Golden Age, it's a recurring theme throughout history, from ancient Rome to the French Revolution. The public display of power through violence serves as a grim reminder of society's darker capacities, a recurring nightmare in the theater of human history.