Penning ter ere van de gebroeders De Witt, 1672 1672 - 1749

This anonymous print from 1672 immortalizes the De Witt brothers' tragic end, employing potent symbols of unity and disaster. The double portrait, a classical motif of brotherhood, echoes in Roman coins and Renaissance portraiture, subtly suggesting their joint governance. Yet, the reverse depicts ships succumbing to a storm—a poignant metaphor for the brothers' violent demise amidst political turmoil. Shipwrecks recur throughout art history, from ancient Greek pottery to 19th-century Romantic paintings, embodying themes of fate, mortality, and the overwhelming power of nature or, in this case, political unrest. The storm, churning and merciless, speaks to a collective trauma, a shared anxiety about the fragility of order. The image engages viewers on a deep, subconscious level—the shared fate motif tapping into primal fears of chaos and loss. The symbolic language reveals cultural memory and anxieties, powerfully evoking the brothers' ill-fated destiny, and serves as a grim reminder of the cyclical nature of history.