1-191-467 - © London Museum/Heritage-Images

'Portrait of Charles I as a Martyr King', (nineteenth century?). King Charles I immediately before his execution, shown with uplifted hands. He wears a lace collar in the fashion of the time, and a cap which would have held his hair out of the way of the executioner's axe. Charles I was publicly executed outside the Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, on 30th January 1649. His crown depicted in the middle of celestial rays suggests the king's execution would not suppress his deeper life or status. The portrait draws on religious art, recalling the stigmatisation of those who felt close to Christ.