Mary, Queen of Scots (from "Opgang, voortgang, en nedergang, der ketteryen deser eeuwe") 1690

Gaspar Bouttats made this engraving of Mary, Queen of Scots, sometime in the 17th century. It comes from a book chronicling the heresies of the age. Mary Stuart, a Catholic Queen in a time of religious upheaval, was a flashpoint in the conflicts between Protestants and Catholics. Framed by angels and cherubs, the print evokes both the divine right of kings and the tragedy of Mary’s fate. What I find striking here is how the artist positions Mary within a visual language that simultaneously critiques and elevates her. The inscription around her portrait declares her queen of Scotland, France and England, but also notes that she was beheaded in London. Bouttats uses the visual rhetoric of martyrdom, but also subtly underscores the political complexities that led to Mary's execution. Was she a victim of religious persecution, or a threat to the Protestant monarchy? This work encapsulates the long shadow she cast over Europe.