By focussing on how the sublime was used in Amsterdam and Paris in grands travaux and in the theatre and spectacle as part of a strategy to persuade the population of the regime’s legitimacy, this program aims to reconstruct an unknown part of the history of the sublime, and lay the foundation for a study of its role in the visual arts and the theatre of early modern Europe. The hypothesis of this program is that early, often hitherto unknown editions and varieties of the sublime from France and the Dutch Republic should be understood primarily against a political background. Many of these were dedicated to important members of ruling families, made for prominent politicians, or read by the ruling classes. Many poems, plays, spectacle, paintings, buildings and public spaces that were experienced as sublime have clear connections with political issues, in particular with the legitimacy of new rulers or regimes, the murder of politicians, or even regicide. In Amsterdam and Paris conspicuous public works served to proclaim that legitimacy, but also became the locus of its contestation. The sublime was used both as a means of persuasion and as a way of articulating the effect of these works on the viewer.