![[the image described here]](339-king-john-sealing-magna-carta-q67-340x500.jpg)
The year is 1215. King John, King of England, sits on an ornate throne. He is wearing a crown and a fur robe fastened with a broach around his neck, rich furs and boots. The throne is raised up on three or four carpeted steps and above the throne is a truly enormous cloth canopy with tassles dangling down maybe four feet or more above the king’s head. The king is holding the open scroll of Magna Carta and is about to press down with his right hand, presumably using a brass seal to press into hot wax.
There are at least twelve other people in the picture, including a bishop with a crook and mitred hat, the archbishop, a knight with a sword and his page-boy looking up at him, and several soldiers.
The picture is a scan from a black-and-white steel engraving.