English Heritage (EH) and Courtauld scientists believe they may have discovered the face of Lady Jane Grey, who famously ruled England for nine days in 1553 before she was beheaded, aged 17, at the behest of her cousin Mary Tudor, who deposed her.
‘This painting was part of the historic collection at Wrest Park, having been acquired by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, in 1701, as an image of Lady Jane Grey. It remained the defining image of the Nine Days Queen for more than 300 years, until its attribution was thrown into doubt and its identity rejected,’ explains Peter Moore, curator at the Bedfordshire estate. When Wrest was sold in 1917, much of its collection, including this portrait — artist unknown — went to auction.
Nowadays, Paul Delaroche’s execution scene comes to mind when most people think of Lady Jane — at the block in white, helpless and blindfolded. However, this and all other known depictions of her were painted after her death — nearly 300 years later in Delaroche’s case.
New tree-ring dating to the Wrest painting has revealed that its oak panel dates to the Nine Days Queen’s lifetime and also bears a cargo mark identical to one used on a royal portrait of her predecessor, Edward VI, with dendrochronologist Ian Tyers confirming that if this portrait is Lady Jane, it would be the only one known to have been painted during her lifetime.
Meanwhile, XRF and infra-red reflectography show that the sitter’s clothing and headwear has been altered since the portrait was first painted, making it more plain, in black and white and with the addition of a scarf over her shoulders. ‘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,’ confirms Rachel Turnbull, EH senior collections conservator. Slightly more aggressively, her eyes, mouth and ears have been deliberately scratched out — a common form of religious or politically motivated vandalism.
‘This is such an interesting picture posing so many questions and, if this is Jane Grey, [it is] 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,’ adds author Dr Philippa Gregory.
The work is among seven paintings returning to Wrest Park (six on loan) and is now on display there for the foreseeable.
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
-
Get ready to get spooky in the Halloween edition of the Country Life Quiz of the Day, October 31, 2025Ghosts, ghouls and ghastly questions lurk in today's quivering quiz.
-
'The King of Hell was fat from gorging on souls and he expelled some more from his bowels': The many guises of the Devil Antiquity to present dayTaking as many guises as his names, the Prince of Lies turned at times into a man-devouring ogre, a mutant medley of claws, horns and wings, or the brooding rebel that lit the imagination of Romantic painters.
-
Meet the man who makes David Beckham's Land Rover DefendersLand Rover’s beloved, rattly old workhorse has gained a chic cachet in recent years — particularly when modified to suit all sorts of purposes, even transporting our David Beckham's honey harvest.
-
The trench coat is a British fashion icon that’s been worn by everyone from brave World War soldiers to Sex and the City’s Samantha JonesThe trench coat did not originate in the trenches, says Amie Elizabeth White, but it was greatly influenced by the World Wars, and was sported by a host of film and TV stars.
-
A portrait featuring a string of pearls stolen in one of Britain’s most notorious jewellery heists is going under the hammerA portrait by Philip de László features a headline-making pearl necklace that was stolen, recovered and stolen again — and it's coming up for auction this week.
-
‘In my twenties I was asked by a newspaper to test out an orgasm machine. I said, "Absolutely"’: Elizabeth Day on her early career in journalism and consuming passionsThe author and journalist chats to Lotte Brundle.
-
What’s better than a date with Ali MacGraw? Tending to your waxed jacket, according to Steve McQueenThis is the story of the world’s most useful jacket — and a staple in Britain's countryside homes.
-
At the Bonneville Salt Flats, the only currency is speedCharlie Thomas reports from Speed Week, and talks to those with a bad case of 'Salt Fever'.
-
The curious case of Cecil Beaton and Madame XWhen he noticed an uncanny resemblance between John Singer Sargent’s painting of Virginie Gautreau and a Cecil Beaton portrait of Leslie Caron, Patrick Monahan called on the Hollywood Golden Age actress to investigate.
