Cultural depictions of Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots, has inspired artistic and cultural works for more than four centuries.

The following lists cover various media, enduring works of high art, and recent representations in popular culture.

The entries represent portrayals that a reader has a reasonable chance of encountering rather than a complete catalogue.

These were especially attracted by the various plots made to save her as well as her death as a political martyr, both of which they interpreted as comparable to their own struggle.

For this reason, the subject of Mary Stuart came to be seen as a concern of radicals, and operas about her were banned on several occasions.

A 19th-century painting of Mary Queen of Scots in the Hermitage, Russia
Cassandra Austen 's drawing of Mary Queen of Scots in Jane Austen 's burlesque juvenile History of England
An 1895 reproduction of the historic scene, produced by Edison Manufacturing Co.
Katharine Hepburn in John Ford 's 1936 film adaption of Maxwell Anderson's play Mary of Scotland
Mary Queen of Scotts ( c. 1578), by Nicholas Hilliard , depicts Queen Mary in captivity. She was a regular topic of 19th century European opera.
Clare Eames in the Broadway production of John Drinkwater's Mary Stuart (1921)