---
title: Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649/
description: 'A two-panel etching: on the left a palm hung with weights and a rock unmoved in a storm; on the right Charles I in ermine, kneeling, gripping a crown of…'
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/eikon-basilike-frontispiece-hollar-1649.jpg)

# Frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, The Pourtraicture of His Sacred Majestie in his Solitudes and Sufferings (Hollar, 1649)

A two-panel etching: on the left a palm hung with weights and a rock unmoved in a storm; on the right Charles I in ermine, kneeling, gripping a crown of thorns while a starred crown of glory shines from the sky, one foot on the globe and his earthly crown at his feet. Latin banners such as 'Crescit sub pondere virtus' supply the virtue words, and the martyr iconography lends Christ's prestige to the king.

- **Date:** 1649
- **Period:** [Pre-1914](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#era=pre-1914)
- **Made by:** English Royalist circle publishing Eikon Basilike (Hague edition, 1649); frontispiece etched by Wenceslaus Hollar
- **Region:** [Western and Central Europe](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#region=western-central-europe)
- **Country:** [Dutch Republic](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#country=dutch-republic)
- **Medium:** [Print](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#medium=print)
- **Issuer type:** [Movement](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#actor=movement)
- **Regime:** [Stadtholderate of William II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#regime=stadtholderate-of-william-ii)
- **Leader:** [William II of Orange](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#leader=william-ii-of-orange)
- **Audience:** [Domestic public](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#audience=domestic-public)
- **Purpose:** [Commemorate](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#purpose=commemorate)
- **Themes:** [Religion](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=religion), [Elections and party politics](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#theme=elections-party-politics)
- **Event:** [English Civil War](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/#event=english-civil-war)
- **Techniques:** [Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Glittering generalities](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/glittering-generalities/)
- **Source:** Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- **Source:** [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/object/RP-P-1920-2654--c03dfee285d2b7d754138801128ccb7c), retrieved September 29, 2026
- **Rights:** Public domain (etched 1649; Rijksmuseum data marks CC0 1.0) Wenceslaus Hollar, frontispiece to Eikon Basilike, 1649; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-1920-2654

## Text on the object

Original (Latin) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
[left panel:]
CLARIOR E TENEBRIS
IMMOTA TRIVMPHANS
CRESCIT SVB PONDERE VIRTVS

[right panel:]
Coeli Specto
Beatam et Æternam [on the crown: GLORIA]
Asperam et levem
[on the crown of thorns:] graua
[on the tablets:] IN VERBO TVO SPES MEA
[on the open book:] Christi Tracto [uncertain]
Splendidam et grauem
[on the fallen crown:] Vanitas [small, partly hidden]
Mundi calco

W. Hollar Bohem. fecit. 1649.
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
[left panel:]
Brighter out of darkness
Triumphing unmoved
Virtue grows under weight

[right panel:]
I look to heaven
The blessed and eternal [crown] [on the crown: GLORY]
The rough and light [crown]
[on the crown of thorns:] heavy [approximate]
[on the tablets:] IN YOUR WORD IS MY HOPE
[on the open book:] Of Christ I handle / I am drawn [uncertain reading]
The splendid and heavy [crown]
[on the fallen crown:] Vanity
I tread on the world

W. Hollar of Bohemia made it. 1649.
```

Read from a 3000 px scan. Several banner words are small and cut by the line work; 'Clarior e tenebris' reads along the light beam, 'graua' on the band of the crown of thorns is only partly clear, the book label 'Christi Tracto' is uncertain, and 'Vanitas' on the earthly crown is barely legible.

[← Der Warner (broadsheet lampoon on the Jesuits after Breitenfeld and Rain)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/der-warner-anti-jesuit-broadsheet-1632/) [Ondersoeckt de Geesten, ofse van den Duyvel syn, of niet (the De Witt brothers as devils) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ondersoeckt-de-geesten-de-witt-devils-1672/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Gold coin of Kanishka: King of Kings legend, king at the altar, deity Oesho](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/gold-dinar-kanishka-king-of-kings-0130/) (0130 · Transfer)
- [Gold solidus of Justinian I, reverse VICTORIA AVGGG with Victory holding a Christogram staff](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/solidus-justinian-i-victoria-avggg-0538/) (0538 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Bayeux Tapestry, scene 23: UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTVM FECIT VVILLELMO DVCI](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bayeux-tapestry-harold-oath-to-william-1070/) (1070 · Transfer, Card stacking)
- [Consult of the doctors on the grave illness of the Grand Sultan (Consult vande medicijnen inde swaere siekte vanden grooten Sultaen)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/consult-of-the-doctors-sick-sultan-antwerp-1683/) (1683 · Transfer, Bandwagon)
- [The Highlanders Medley, or The Duke Triumphant (A Loyal Song)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/highlanders-medley-duke-triumphant-1746/) (1746 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Marche du Dom Quichotte moderne pour la deffence du Moulin des Abus (March of the Modern Don Quixote in Defence of the Mill of Abuses)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dom-quichotte-moulin-des-abus-1791/) (1791 · Name-calling, Transfer)
- [Bonaparte, Premier Consul de la Republique Francaise: Revue du Quintidi (Boilly, Levachez, Duplessis-Bertaux)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bonaparte-premier-consul-revue-du-quintidi-1802/) (Aug 17, 1802 · Transfer)