---
title: Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/
description: An etched broadsheet shows Johan and Cornelis de Witt flying through the air as winged, horned devils over a restless crowd, with the Prince of Orange…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672.jpg)

# Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils)

An etched broadsheet shows Johan and Cornelis de Witt flying through the air as winged, horned devils over a restless crowd, with the Prince of Orange beside the Garden of Holland and, at right, a church from which the pope and the French king look on. The title tells readers to test 'whether the spirits are of the devil'; the devil label and the lettered pile of grievances laid on two men are the tells.

- **Date:** 1672
- **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914)
- **Made by:** Jacob de Lambre, author-engraver of the pamphlet 'Het Ondersoeck der Geesten', Dutch Republic
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [Dutch Republic](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=dutch-republic)
- **Medium:** [Print](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=print)
- **Issuer type:** [Individual](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=individual)
- **Regime:** [Stadtholderate of William III](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=stadtholderate-of-william-iii)
- **Leader:** [William III of Orange](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=william-iii-of-orange)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Demonize](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=demonize)
- **Themes:** [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics), [War and the military](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=war-military), [Religion](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=religion)
- **Event:** [Franco Dutch War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=franco-dutch-war)
- **Techniques:** [Scapegoating](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/scapegoating/) [Name-calling](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/name-calling/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/RP-P-OB-77.217--67532a46ac182d485cfabe43b26fb38b), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (etched 1672-1675; Rijksmuseum data marks CC0 1.0) Jacob de Lambre, Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet, Dutch Republic, 1672-1675; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-OB-77.217

## Text on the object

Original (Dutch) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
ONDERSOECKT DE GEESTEN,
OFSE
VAN DEN DUYVEL SYN,
OF NIET.

[numerals and letters keyed to the pamphlet, e.g. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; not readable as words]

Jacob de L..
Am[b]re fec. inv.
[illegible: perhaps 'et exc.']
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
TEST THE SPIRITS,
WHETHER
THEY ARE OF THE DEVIL,
OR NOT.

Jacob de L.. Am[b]re made and designed it [remainder illegible].
```

Read from a 2800 px scan. The signature is partly cut into the plate edge and worn; the Rijksmuseum names the maker as Jacob de Lambre. The many small figures carry only numerals and letters.

[← Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/) [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Der Warner (broadsheet lampoon on the Jesuits after Breitenfeld and Rain)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/der-warner-anti-jesuit-broadsheet-1632/) (1632 · Scapegoating, Fear appeal)
- [Proclamation by the Queen in Council, to the Princes, Chiefs, and People of India (printed sheet, Allahabad, 1 November 1858)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/queens-proclamation-to-the-people-of-india-1858/) (Nov 1, 1858 · Glittering generalities, Scapegoating)
- [De Vlamingen aan de Negers van den Congo (The Flemings to the Negroes of the Congo)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/de-vlamingen-aan-de-negers-van-den-congo-1885/) (1885 · Scapegoating)
- [The Radical Programme, No. 4: Dismemberment of the Empire (Gladstone & Co. auction India), St Stephen's Review Presentation Cartoon](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/radical-programme-selling-india-st-stephens-review-1891/) (Oct 31, 1891 · Fear appeal, Scapegoating)
- ["England and the War in South Africa" (Der wahre Jacob, 1899)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/war-and-capitalism-der-wahre-jacob-1899/) (Dec 5, 1899 · Card stacking, Scapegoating)
- ["Negro Rule" vampire cartoon with sworn affidavit](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/negro-rule-vampire-1900/) (Jul 4, 1900 · Accusation in a mirror, Fear appeal, Scapegoating). Content note: Racist "Negro Rule" caricature.
- [Японский Император и его лукавые доброжелатели (The Japanese Emperor and His Cunning Well-Wishers): Russian Russo-Japanese War print](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/japanese-mikado-cunning-well-wishers-1904/) (1904 · Name-calling, Scapegoating)
- [The Menace front page, 12 April 1913 (Aurora, Missouri)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/the-menace-front-page-1913/) (Apr 12, 1913 · Bandwagon, Scapegoating). Content note: Anti-Catholic newspaper front page with a skull-and-crossbones emblem labelled 'Temporal Power' and claims of a Roman Catholic conspiracy.