The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Paul Delaroche (1797-1856). 1833. Oil on canvas. H 246 x W 297 cm. Accession no. NG1909. Bequeathed by the Second Lord Cheylesmore, 1902. Photo credit: The National Gallery, London. Kindly made available by the gallery for research purposes on the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Deed Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Creative Commons licence.
After just nine days as Queen, the 17-year-old Lady Jane Grey was deposed supporters of her brother Edward’s half-sister and heir, Mary Tudor; found guilty of treason, she was beheaded at the Tower on 12 February 1554. The National Gallery describes Delaroche's famous painting as follows:
Delaroche shows the final moments of the blindfolded Lady Jane as she pleads, "What shall I do? Where is the block?" She is being guided towards it by Sir John Brydges, Lieutenant of the Tower. Her outer clothing has already been removed and is gathered in the lap of a lady-in-waiting, who has slumped to the ground. Behind her, a second lady-in-waiting stands facing the wall, unable to watch. To the right, the executioner stands waiting. Using a shallow stage-like space, theatrical lighting and life-size figures, Delaroche plays up the spectacle of the innocent young victim on the brink of martyrdom, compelling us to react to the scene before us.
The painting in its frame, on the Art UK website.
Reviewing Patricia Smyth's book on Delaroche, (see bibliography)Laurent Bury writes, "Delaroche offered a vision which was neither idealized nor clarified, and his decision to disappear behind his subject made it easier for the viewer to access the human drama." The French artist's work proved to be very influential in the second half of the Victorian period.
Bibliography
Bury, Laurent. Review of Patricia Smyth's Paul Delaroche: Painting and Popular Spectacle (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2022)
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. National Gallery. Web. 4 March 2024.
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey. Art UK. Web. 4 March 2024.
Created 4 March 2024