Known as the “nine-day queen,” Lady Jane Grey was used as a pawn in the Tudor court’s ruthless ambition. However, historians have struggled to find a single portrait of her that was created during her lifetime.
Research now suggests that a mysterious portrait depicts the Royal who reigned over England for just over a week in the summer of 1553 and was executed less than a year later.
The painting is believed to be of Lady Jane Grey, who was coronated in 1553, but then succeeded and executed by Mary Tudor within a year.
English Heritage believes there is “compelling evidence” to suggest that the royal portrait of Grey was significantly altered after it was made, perhaps to portray the sitter as a Protestant martyr.
Using infrared reflectography, English Heritage, working alongside the Courtauld Institute of Art and dendrochronologist Ian Tyers, found changes had been made to the sitter’s costume, including her sleeves, coif, and the addition of a white scarf. They also noticed that the sitter’s eyes, which now look to her left, previously looked to her right. At one point, her eyes, mouth, and ears were scratched out, indicating an iconoclastic attack.
The research included dendrochronological (tree-ring dating) analysis of the painted panel, which can be dated between 1539 and approximately 1571. The back of the panel also displays a merchant or cargo mark, identical to one used on a royal portrait of King Edward VI.
Rachel Turnbull, English Heritage’s senior collections conservator, said “From the newly discovered evidence of a perhaps once more elaborate costume and the dating of the wooden panel from within her lifetime, to the deliberate scratching of her eyes, it is possible that we are looking at the shadows of a once more royal portrait of Lady Jane Grey, toned down into subdued, Protestant martyrdom after her death.
Grey reigned from 10-19 July 1553. She was proclaimed queen as part of an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the succession of her Catholic cousin, Mary Tudor.
Analysis of the painting revealed that changes were made to the sitter’s costume.
Grey arrived at the Tower of London to prepare for her coronation, but within a fortnight, she was back as a prisoner of Mary I, who had claimed the throne. While Mary was reluctant to punish Grey at first, the teenager posed too much of a threat. Grey became the focus of Protestant plotters intent on replacing Mary. She was executed on 12 February 1554 at the Tower of London.
Grey is often portrayed as an innocent victim, as seen in Paul Delaroche’s painting, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, where she is blindfolded and helpless before the executioner’s block. However, that depiction, and the few known representations of Grey, were all painted after her death.
This portrait, on loan from a private collection, will be displayed from Friday at Wrest Park in Bedfordshire alongside six other paintings, including one of Wrest’s most notable owners, Jemima, Marchioness Grey.
Historical novelist Dr. Philippa Gregory said “This is such an interesting picture, posing so many questions, and if this is Jane Grey, a valuable addition to the portraiture of this young heroine, as a woman of character – a powerful challenge to the traditional representation of her as a blindfolded victim.”
