"Kings, Queens, and Courtiers: Royalty on Paper" at the Museum of Fine Arts features examples of the various ways in which European rulers and their aristocratic followers have been represented on paper from the sixteenth century to 1900. In several instances (as with Emperor Maximilian I of Austria, Henri II and Louis XIV of France, and Elizabeth I and Victoria of England, for example), the exhibition includes different interpretations of the same subject.
Representations of lavish court entertainments and one or two critical caricatures have also been included. The majority of these images are skillful propaganda intended to convey the splendor, power, and virtues of the various monarchs. The exhibition serves as a complement to and provides a broader historical context for "Mario Testino: British Royal Portraits" on view concurrently in the Ritts Gallery.