[ARMINIAN SERPENT].

Clare Af-beeldinghe, ofte Effigien, der voornaemste Conspirateurs, staende op het Lichaem vande Hoofdeloose Arminiaensche Slange. Waer in vertoont word hoe den Orangien Boom, mitsgaders Religie ende Justitie [in spijt van 't Bedrogh, en den vervallen Boom] door de strael Gods, beschermt word. Utrecht, Jan Amelisz. (printed by Jan Adrieansz. in Amsterdam), 1623. Large engraving (29.5 x 40 cm) with letterpress poem in 3 columns below. Mounted on paperboard.

      Muller, Historieplaten 1479. Popular allegorical print on the failed attempt to assasinate Prince Maurits of Orange in 1623. In revenge for the execution of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt in 1619, two of his sons, Reynier and Willem, conspired to assassinate Prince Maurits. They were helped by other prominent members of Dutch society who had a political, religious or personal grudge against the Prince. However, the seamen who had been hired to execute the plan told the authorities about the plot. The conspirators were arrested and executed.The portraits of the conspirators, who were all Arminians, are displayed on a decapitated snake. The body of the dead snake encircles two trees, the felled tree of Arminianism, with Deceit cleaving to its trunk, and the Orange tree flanked by Religion and Justice and protected by divine light. At the left in the picture, the heads of the conspirators are displayed on pikes around the gallows. Below the illustration is a poem in three columns.