This engraving shows the frontispiece to "Eikon Basililke," portraying King Charles I of England as a Christian martyr. After his death, Anglicans and royalists sought to portray the late king as such, and several artworks emerged shortly after his death showing him in this sympathetic light. However, most scholars and historians still agree that most of the king's actions did not come from a place of extreme piety, but rather speculated to be motivated for selfish reason and the belief in his right to divine rule.