Following the accession of James II as king in 1685, Blooteling altered and reissued his earlier print of him as Duke of York in a format exactly matching his print of Charles II, displayed to the left. This impression is a working proof allowing the printmaker to check his progress in altering the plate, having trimmed the lettering from the bottom and scraped away the background tone and laurel-wreath border. In the finished state, a new border with updated lettering proclaims James as king.

Cat. 163