ABSTRACT
Much seventeenth-century political propaganda was visual, and in its original manifestation either ephemeral, or restricted to a minority audience or both. Triumphal entries, chivalric events, court festivities and fi rework displays could offer the onlooker a forceful visual testimony of royal strength and authority, but one that was of its nature short-lived. Allegorical tapestries, wall or ceiling paintings and hung paintings offered a more durable testimony, but one that was restricted to those with access to the rooms in which they were displayed. Plays, ballets and exhibitions, which could also be used as a vehicle for political propaganda, combined the disadvantages of both. But the printed book could compensate effectively for such limitations, giving perpetuity to the otherwise ephemeral, and widening access to the otherwise narrowly exclusive. This paper discusses the way in which the printed book could be exploited to complement and further disseminate by verbal means political messages whose impact derived originally largely from visual stimuli.
