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Recent research on a portrait believed to depict Lady Jane Grey has revealed that the painting may be the only surviving image of the ‘Nine Day Queen’ that dates to her lifetime.
A devout Protestant, Lady Jane Grey was named heir to her cousin Edward VI as part of an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to prevent his Catholic half-sister Mary from inheriting the Crown. Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553, but was still awaiting coronation when she was deposed in favour of Mary I just nine days later. She was executed the following February, at the age of only 16 or 17. It was long thought that the handful of confirmed representations of Jane were all painted posthumously, but recent work by English Heritage on a portrait newly displayed at Wrest Park, Bedfordshire, suggests that it could be a unique example created while Jane was still alive.
The painting, which depicts a young woman dressed in black and holding a book, was interpreted as Lady Jane Grey as early as 1685, when it was reproduced as an engraving, although this identification has been debated over the years. Long kept as part of a private collection, the portrait has now undergone updated dendrochronological analysis, which examined the two Baltic oak boards on which the portrait was painted in order to establish its age. The likely date range returned was 1539-1571, and Jane lived from 1537-1554. If the portrait does indeed represent the young queen, it could therefore be the only known depiction of Jane painted during her lifetime.
Further testing included the use of infrared reflectography to reveal what lies beneath the layers of paint. This process can reveal preparatory sketches, known as ‘underdrawings’ – often made in carbon-based materials that absorb infrared light differently to the surrounding paint – as well as hidden details and compositional changes. In this case, the scanning revealed that several changes had been made to the portrait, mostly relating to the sitter’s clothing. A white scarf is likely to have been a later addition, and the linen cap, or coif, worn over her hair was originally a different shape and possibly worn under a more decorative hood. ‘All of these elements are typical in portraits of Tudor queens or members of the nobility,’ Peter Moore, English Heritage curator, explained. ‘So someone appears to have made this portrait plainer than it was originally – potentially to support wider efforts to portray Jane as a Protestant martyr after her execution.’
Close inspection of the painting also reveals that the eyes, mouth, and ears were at some stage deliberately scratched out in a possible iconoclastic attack – similar to defacement carried out on other portraits said to depict Jane – that probably took place before the painting was acquired for Wrest Park in 1701.
While the case for identifying the sitter as Jane becomes stronger, the artist who painted the portrait remains shrouded in mystery. However, the back of the panel displays a timber merchant’s mark that is extremely similar to one on a portrait of Edward VI. ‘This might be an indication that we are dealing with the work of a royal portrait painter, but this is fairly speculative until more evidence can be gathered,’ Peter said.
The portrait is now on permanent display at Wrest Park alongside six other historically associated paintings recently returned to the site. For more details about the site and how to visit, see: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wrest-park.
Text: Rebecca Preedy
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