Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 4

Matthäus Merian the Elder
The Beheading of the King of England; Enthauptung des Königs in England

1649

About the Item

The execution of Charles I (1600-1649) at Whitehall, January 30th 1649, in front of the Banqueting House. The executioner holding the head of Charles up to the crowd below. Engraving on two sheets of joined cream laid paper, one sheet with a fleur-de-lys watermark, 9 x 11 3/4 inches (230 x 300 mm), full margins. Vertical center crease, as issued. General toning with scattered light spots, two tabs of paper tape at the center sheet edges on the right and left margins, well outside of image area. Handling creases, and age-consistent wear. An illustration to Theatrum Europaeum, a journal on the history of the German-speaking lands by Matthäus Merian, published between 1633 and 1738. Just thirteen years after nine splended canvases by Peter Paul Rubens were installed on the high ceiling of the Banqueting House, Charles I viewed them for the last time. As a condemned man, Charles I walked to his death under the magnificent paintings, which ironically, he had commissioned as a tribute to his late father. The King was then executed on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House on 30 January 1649. His death is commemorated in a service held there every year on the anniversary. In this view an executioner holds the severed head of Charles I beside the still bleeding body of the King. To the right of the executioner, Bishop Juxon, Mathew Tomlinson, and Francis Hacker stand, the former two holding the King's robes. Surrounding the scaffold, a very large crowd of men and women are gathered to witness the execution, and more crowds are depicted watching from the roof of Whitehall itself. With two coats of arms and German inscription above. Matthäus Merian the Elder (22 September 1593 - 19 June 1650) was a Swiss engraver born in Basel. Beginning his career in Zürich, he went on to study and work in various cities throughout France. In 1616, Merian relocated to Frankfurt to work for the publisher Johann Theodor de Bry. Merian later married de Bry's daughter. Merian was the father of Maria Sibylla Merian, one of the greatest natural history artists of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
  • Creator:
    Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593 - 1650, German)
  • Creation Year:
    1649
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9 in (22.86 cm)Width: 11.75 in (29.85 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
    Mid-17th Century
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Middletown, NY
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: BH10301stDibs: LU1979213771712

More From This Seller

View All
Veduta del Tempio della Fortuna Virile, from Raccolta delle più belle Vedute ...
By Giuseppe Vasi
Located in Middletown, NY
By Giuseppe Vasi after Giovanni Piranesi: Etching and engraving with hand coloring in watercolor on laid paper with an E and R watermark, full margins. Minor...
Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Landscape Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching

The Last Supper, from The Passion of Christ
By Hendrick Goltzius
Located in Middletown, NY
Engraving on cream laid paper, 8 x 5 3/8 inches (203 x 137 mm), trimmed at the platemark. A fine impression with a Coat of Arms watermark. Second state, after the addition of the Frederick de Witt...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving

Le Tour de Clermont en Dauphine apartenant a Monsieur de Tonnerre
By Israel Silvestre
Located in Middletown, NY
Etching and engraving on handmade cream laid paper, 3 7/8 x 6 7/8 inches (97 x 173 mm), full margins. In good condition, consistent with age. Several small notations in pencil in t...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Landscape Prints

Materials

Handmade Paper, Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching

Fountains of Rome; Fontana e castello dell'Acqua
By Giovan Battista Falda
Located in Middletown, NY
Rome: Giovanni Giacomo De Rossi, 1625. Etching and engraving on cream laid paper, 8 3/8 x 11 1/4 inches (222 x 286 mm), full margins. In good condition with some light yellow discol...
Category

Early 17th Century Old Masters Landscape Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching

Fountains of Rome
By Giovan Battista Falda
Located in Middletown, NY
A charming scene with romping dogs and spectators watching the cascading water play a trick on an unsuspecting man who is sprayed as he descends the steps, ...
Category

Early 17th Century Old Masters Landscape Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving, Etching

The Queen of Great Britain arriving in Portsmouth 25 May 1662 & The Arrival in L
By Matthäus Merian the Elder
Located in Middletown, NY
Two images of Queen Catharina of Braganza; one before her marriage to King Charles II, the other after, as Queen of Great Britian. Engraved by Matthiäus Merian, father of Maria Sybli...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Landscape Prints

Materials

Laid Paper, Engraving

You May Also Like

Landscape - Engraving after Rembrandt - 19th Century
By Charles Amand Durand
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized by Charles Amand Durand (1831-1905) after an etching by Rembrandt. This wonderful piece of art belongs to a late edition of ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Engraving

Ancient Roman Architecture: Original Framed 18th C. Etching by G. Piranesi
By Giovanni Battista Piranesi
Located in Alamo, CA
"Veduta del Sepolcro della Famiglia Plauzia per la Strada Che Conduce da Roma a Tivoli vicino a Ponte Lugano" from "Le Antichità Romane" (Roman Antiquities), one of the most famous works by Piranesi. "Antichita" illustrates the tombs along the Appian Way...
Category

Early 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching, Engraving, Drypoint

The Landscape - Engraving after Rembrandt - 19th Century
By Charles Amand Durand
Located in Roma, IT
The landscape is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized by Charles Amand Durand after an etching by Rembrandt. This wonderful piece of art belongs t...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Engraving

Landscape with an Obelisk - Engraving after Rembrandt - 19th Century
By Charles Amand Durand
Located in Roma, IT
Landscape with an Obelisk is an engraving on ivory-colored paper realized after an etching by Rembrandt dated 1650 ca. This wonderful piece of art belongs to an edition of the late 1...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Engraving

'Near Mrs. Teshmakers, Edmonton' original etching by John Thomas Smith
By John Thomas Smith
Located in Milwaukee, WI
The present is one of the many prints John Thomas Smith produced of English cottages and vernacular architecture. This example, a view of a cottage in Edmonton, is closely related to...
Category

1790s Old Masters Landscape Prints

Materials

Paper, Etching

The Basilica of St. Paul in Rome, Early 19th Century Etching by Luigi Rossini
By Luigi Rossini
Located in Alamo, CA
"Rovina della gran Basilica di S. Paolo fueri le mura accaduta" (View of the Ruins of the Great Triumphal Arch of S. Paolo Fuori le Mura) from "Le Antichita Romane" (Ancient Rome), published in Rome in 1823. It depicts the destruction of the Basilica of St. Paul after the fire of 1823. People stand in the road and on the right observing the damage amid debris, which includes many fragments of columns. The etching is presented in a silver-color wood frame with an off-white double mat with a black inner mat. There are a few small spots, but it is otherwise in very good condition. See item # LU117324669722 for another Rossini etching...
Category

1820s Old Masters Figurative Prints

Materials

Etching

Recently Viewed

View All