“In my end is my beginning”—that’s the motto that Mary, Queen of Scots embroidered shortly before her execution in 1587. The words, of course, address her coming death and the eternal life of the soul. But they also apply to the year of 1567, just 13 months after the birth of Mary’s only son, when Protestant rebels forced her, a Catholic, to abdicate in his favor. James VI ruled as the King of Scotland from 1567 to 1603; from 1603 until his death in 1625 he ruled as James I, King of England and Ireland. A new exhibition devoted to James VI and I offers a visual history of his tumultuous reign. On display are paintings, garments, textiles, and precious jewelry, some of which was not discovered until 1912. —J.V.