François de Coninck is murdered at his wife's behest
Anoniem / Anonymous / Laurensz, Hendrick
François de Coninck is murdered at his wife's behest.
The murder is committed on the first floor. We see how De Coninck's wife helps the murderer flee through the window.
This print is taken from a French edition of the 'Itinerario' by Jan Huygen van Linschoten.
According to the 'Mémoire bibliographique' by P.A. Tiele, this edition was not printed in Amsterdam but by the publisher of De Bry's travels in Frankfurt.
De Coninck had strong suspicions that his sixteen year old wife was unfaithful, and voiced these suspicions to his best friend (a Portuguese man), saying he wanted to kill her lover. What De Coninck didn't know, was that it was precisely this best friend, a Portuguese, who was his wife's lover. The plan was quickly communicated and the lovers decided that attack was the best form of defence: the Antwerp diamond cutter was murdered.
De Coninck was a diamond cutter from Antwerp who had settled in Goa and was an old friend of the Dutchman Jan Huygen van Linschoten.
The murder was committed in 1588.
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