Majesty in misery. Two pictorial sources of Andreas Gryphius's martyr play Carolus Stuardus

Abstract

In the annotations to his drama, Ermordete Majest ät Oder CAROLUS STUARDUS K önig von Gross Britanien, the Baroque dramatist Andreas Gryphius left no doubt about the fact that he consulted for his work both the Eikon Basilike Vel Imago Regis Caroli, which was first published in England in 1649, and the Vollst ändiges Englisches Memorial, which appeared in Holland early in the same year. When comparing these two historical sources with Carolus Stuardus one notices immediately the similarity of the content and form of the Englisches Memorial with Gryphius's drama. Less noticeable is the connection of the play with the King's book, Eikon Basilike, but Gryphius makes extensive reference to the text in the annotations of his play. The Eikon Basilike and the Englisches Memorial each contain an engraving whose significance for the martyr play has been underestimated until recently. The engravings in question are the depiction of the royal martyr, Charles I, in the Eikon Basilike as well as the pictorial representation of the last moments of the monarch ' s life and his execution from the Englisches Memorial.