Secret portrait of the 'nine-day' Queen found
By ANDREW LEVY
4th March 2007
The portrait of what experts believe is Lady Jane Grey, the "Nine Day Queen." She was England's shortest-ever serving monarch and became Queen when she was just 16. She was beheaded on Tower Green outside the Tower of London in 1554.
The thin line of her lips suggests they are pursed in defiance.
But then Lady Jane Grey may have been steeling herself for her tragic downfall as she languished in the Tower of London.
The teenager was England's shortest-serving monarch, managing just nine days on the throne before she was imprisoned and later executed by Henry VIII's elder daughter, Mary.
Although paintings of her were commissioned years after her death, this is the first known to have been made during her lifetime.
Experts believe the miniature portrait, which measures less than two inches across, could have been done in secret and smuggled out of her rooms in the Tower. It is valued at over £1 million.
The woman's identity was unearthed by television historian Dr David Starkey, who spotted an illustration in a book where the 16th century work was described as depicting an "unknown woman".
"Almost all the early miniatures such as this were of royal subjects. This one struck me instantly and I thought that it had to be of Lady Jane," he said.
"What I noticed was the evident youth of the sitter. It would be unusual for someone to sit for a miniature unless they had very high status."
The mystery was solved using the beautiful brooch on the sitter's chest and the spray of jewellery "foliage" behind it.
A check of Lady Jane's inventory of jewellery when she entered the Tower in 1553 included a gold brooch with an agate centre that matched the one in the miniature.
The "foliage" turned out to be the badge of the Dudley family, which Lady Jane had married into in May that year.
Dr Starkey added: "Either it is a wedding picture or I think it is more likely that it dates from the time when Lady Jane was in the Tower of London."
Lady Jane became known as the Nine Days Queen for her time at the helm of England from July 10, 1553, when she was just 16.
Although fifth in line to the throne, the Protestant was King Edward VI's personal choice to succeed.
Beautiful and intelligent, she hoped to rebuild the English economy and return land to farmers who had been dispossessed by Henry VIII.
But the country rose in favour of Edward's half-sister Mary Tudor who, depite being a Catholic, was the true heir to the throne.
Jane was sent to the Tower and might have remained living there but for a failed rebellion in January 1554, triggered by Mary's imminent marriage to the Catholic Prince Philip, later King of Spain.
Mary decided to remove any future focus for unrest and Lady Jane was beheaded on February 12, 1554.
Contemporary accounts record she died bravely on Tower Green, despite walking past the body of her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley.
Her last words were: "Lord, into thy hands I commit my soul."
The miniature was bequeathed to the collection of the Yale Centre for British Art in the U.S. by American philanthopist Paul Mellon, who died in 1999.
It is due to go on display for two weeks at a major exhibition of Tudor portraiture at the Philip Mould gallery in Mayfair, central London, from Monday.
Mr Mould said the steely look on Lady Jane's face may have been her last act of defiance.
"She was unusually well-educated and the sense of purpose she shows favours a woman who was rather more in control than you might think," he added.
"She doesn't seem like one of those shy flower-nodding-her-head-in-the-wind types."
The exhibition will also include works that reveal how later generations altered artwork to fit in with the changing perception of English monarchs.
These include a painting of Richard III, which had a hump added during the 17th century to make him look like a hunchback.
dailymail.co.uk
By ANDREW LEVY
4th March 2007
The portrait of what experts believe is Lady Jane Grey, the "Nine Day Queen." She was England's shortest-ever serving monarch and became Queen when she was just 16. She was beheaded on Tower Green outside the Tower of London in 1554.
The thin line of her lips suggests they are pursed in defiance.
But then Lady Jane Grey may have been steeling herself for her tragic downfall as she languished in the Tower of London.
The teenager was England's shortest-serving monarch, managing just nine days on the throne before she was imprisoned and later executed by Henry VIII's elder daughter, Mary.
Although paintings of her were commissioned years after her death, this is the first known to have been made during her lifetime.
Experts believe the miniature portrait, which measures less than two inches across, could have been done in secret and smuggled out of her rooms in the Tower. It is valued at over £1 million.
The woman's identity was unearthed by television historian Dr David Starkey, who spotted an illustration in a book where the 16th century work was described as depicting an "unknown woman".
"Almost all the early miniatures such as this were of royal subjects. This one struck me instantly and I thought that it had to be of Lady Jane," he said.
"What I noticed was the evident youth of the sitter. It would be unusual for someone to sit for a miniature unless they had very high status."
The mystery was solved using the beautiful brooch on the sitter's chest and the spray of jewellery "foliage" behind it.
A check of Lady Jane's inventory of jewellery when she entered the Tower in 1553 included a gold brooch with an agate centre that matched the one in the miniature.
The "foliage" turned out to be the badge of the Dudley family, which Lady Jane had married into in May that year.
Dr Starkey added: "Either it is a wedding picture or I think it is more likely that it dates from the time when Lady Jane was in the Tower of London."
Lady Jane became known as the Nine Days Queen for her time at the helm of England from July 10, 1553, when she was just 16.
Although fifth in line to the throne, the Protestant was King Edward VI's personal choice to succeed.
Beautiful and intelligent, she hoped to rebuild the English economy and return land to farmers who had been dispossessed by Henry VIII.
But the country rose in favour of Edward's half-sister Mary Tudor who, depite being a Catholic, was the true heir to the throne.
Jane was sent to the Tower and might have remained living there but for a failed rebellion in January 1554, triggered by Mary's imminent marriage to the Catholic Prince Philip, later King of Spain.
Mary decided to remove any future focus for unrest and Lady Jane was beheaded on February 12, 1554.
Contemporary accounts record she died bravely on Tower Green, despite walking past the body of her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley.
Her last words were: "Lord, into thy hands I commit my soul."
The miniature was bequeathed to the collection of the Yale Centre for British Art in the U.S. by American philanthopist Paul Mellon, who died in 1999.
It is due to go on display for two weeks at a major exhibition of Tudor portraiture at the Philip Mould gallery in Mayfair, central London, from Monday.
Mr Mould said the steely look on Lady Jane's face may have been her last act of defiance.
"She was unusually well-educated and the sense of purpose she shows favours a woman who was rather more in control than you might think," he added.
"She doesn't seem like one of those shy flower-nodding-her-head-in-the-wind types."
The exhibition will also include works that reveal how later generations altered artwork to fit in with the changing perception of English monarchs.
These include a painting of Richard III, which had a hump added during the 17th century to make him look like a hunchback.
dailymail.co.uk
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