De herontdekking van de gestolen en begraven lichamen van Slatius, Coornwinder en Gerritsz - Claes Jansz. Visscher (II)

A seventeenth-century Dutch broadside print by Claes Jansz. Visscher (II) detailing the exhumation and public display of conspirators involved in a plot against Prince Maurice.

This print by Claes Jansz. Visscher (II) documents a specific event from 1623 involving the discovery and subsequent public display of the bodies of Henricus Slatius, David Coornwinder, and Peter Gerritsz. These men were involved in a conspiracy against Prince Maurice of Orange. The composition is structured as a broadside, a common format for disseminating news and moralising narratives in the seventeenth-century Netherlands.

The work is divided into six distinct scenes, each numbered with Roman numerals, which guide the viewer through the chronological sequence of the discovery, exhumation, and public execution of the corpses. The central medallion features a bat holding a scroll, a symbolic element often used in contemporary political satire to represent the darkness of the conspiracy. The surrounding text provides a detailed account of the events, serving as a primary source for the historical narrative of the period.

Visscher, a prominent publisher and engraver based in Amsterdam, utilised a precise, linear style characteristic of Dutch printmaking during this era. The figures are rendered with clear outlines, and the scenes are set within a structured frame that integrates the visual narrative with the printed word. The work reflects the political tensions of the Dutch Republic, where public punishment served as a warning against treason. The print captures the grim reality of seventeenth-century judicial practices, documenting the physical handling of the bodies as they were moved from their initial burial sites to the place of public display. This piece is an example of how print culture functioned as a medium for both information and political propaganda, ensuring that the consequences of the failed plot were widely understood by the public.