Nine Days a Queen and the “Execution of Lady Jane Grey”

Lady Jane Grey was born into the Tudor family by Henry Grey and Lady Frances Brandon, holding strong bloodline connections to Henry VIII, in October 1537. Being an ancestor to the Tudor legacy, she became quickly acquainted with high-class education by learning, speaking, and writing fluently in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, and French. She learned these languages, in addition to her Protestant faith, primarily under the guidance of Catherine Parr and Thomas Seymour with whom Lady Jane Grey lived with upon turning nine-years-old. Catherine Parr had just recently courted Seymour prior to her husband’s—Henry VIII—death. Moving in with Catherine Parr and Thomas Seymour was an impactful and important decision her biological parents made to ensure Lady Jane Grey received early exposure to their royal family and Tudor court circles.

Both Catherine Parr and Lady Jane Grey stayed significantly close while living under the same roof. However, tragedy struck when Catherine Parr died during childbirth in 1548 and Thomas Seymour’s execution in 1549 for treason. Three years later, in 1551, Lady Jane Grey was studying at Bradgate, her hometown, and she found herself being dragged into the royal court even more by her father after he was made the Duke of Suffolk. Grey’s strategic plan was to bring Lady Jane Grey, and her other sister, Catherine, to the court for arranged marriages. Grey succeeded when Lady Jane Grey married Lord Guildford Dudley, overtaking Edward VI’s (Seymour’s first choice for Jane’s future spouse) chances to take Lady Jane Grey’s hand, and Catherine married the Earl of Pembroke in 1553.

In the same year, Edward VI grew quite sick with tuberculosis. Being only ten-years-old at the time, Edward remained extraordinarily vulnerable in all aspects. His mental and physical state easily paved the way for Lady Jane Grey’s father-in-law, Sir John Dudley, to strip Edward’s half-sister—Mary Tudor—from inheriting the throne upon his death. Sir John Dudley foresaw the problematic issues Mary Tudor would eventually display, since being a Catholic; she was also declared as an illegitimate heir because Henry VIII and her biological mother divorced. Sir John Dudley’s plan to remove Mary from inheriting the throne was a success. And on July 6, 1553, Edward died, leaving Lady Jane Grey in shock as she had been proclaimed the queen.

Being seen as illegitimate according to the royal court, Mary Tudor was still in line as queen based on Henry VIII’s will – the will and parliament’s act in 1544 pointed all fingers to Mary as England’s rightful queen. Nine days later, Parliament and the Privy Council of England and Ireland ignored Edward VI’s request to strip Mary from power and pronounced Mary as the true inheritor. Out of fear, Lady Jane Grey’s father then suggested she relinquish her throne back to Mary, but it was too late. Mary had made the decision for both Lady Jane Grey and her father be sent to the Tower of London for execution.

While the Duke of Suffolk was released moments later, Lady Jane Grey and her husband were charged with high treason to the royal court. Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were beheaded on February 12, 1554, and the Duke of Suffolk was killed on the twenty third after being an accomplice in Sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion.

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To encapsulate Lady Jane Grey’s beheading, Paul Delaroche composed, in 1833, “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.” This piece is a strong, emotional oil painting of Lady Jane Grey, a seventeen-year-old girl, moments before her beheading in the Tower of London on February 12, 1554. Delaroche’s intention with this masterpiece was to depict a blindfolded and confused female humbly asking someone move the chopping block closer in her reach, reconciling three of Delaroche’s interests: the French Revolution, Dark Romanticism, and French theatre.

Recreating a human-sized—nearly 3 meters wide—visual representation of this disastrous scene advances Deloroche’s inward connection to his painting, “The Victors of the Bastille.” Commissioned by Louis-Philippe I, Delaroche, Drolling, Schnetz, and Cogniet each painted a piece to celebrate the French Revolution for the Throne Room held within the Hôtel del Ville. Delaroche’s means in capturing “The Victors of the Bastille” was to celebrate the individuals that stormed the Bastille and left victoriously. While “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” is not a positive celebration like the Bastille, many believe Delaroche’s connection to the French Revolution stems from a reminder to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette’s beheading in 1793. They were both beheaded by the guillotine, but their executions were done in the public eye. The Tower of London, or the Tower Green, often held public beheadings in the open air designated for nobility; in fact, Henry VIII’s wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, were killed in the same area. Beheadings done in broad daylight often were performed on raised platforms, ultimately resembling beheadings in the French Revolution. In “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey,” the audience can see the platform, or stage, is covered with a dark cloth of some sorts next to the artists’ signature, which is an easy transition to Delaroche’s use of Dark Romanticism.

Dark Romanticism was a subgenre of Romanticism in the eighteenth-and-nineteenth centuries to highlight and argue the use of death, darkness, and the occult. Gary Richard Thompson, in “The Gothic Imagination,” categorized the grotesque as “a supernatural realm that yet seemed not to exist. The constant perplexity of inexplicable and vastly metaphysical phenomena, a propensity for seemingly perverse or even moral choice that had no firm or fixed measure or rule, and a sense of nameless guilt combined with a suspicion the external world was a delusive projection of the kind.” The audience is able to experience a demonic sense to “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” through the individuals on the outside of Lady Jane Grey by their dress. Despite Delaroche’s dark romantic use of color and expression, Lady Jane Grey remains the center of attention – not only because she is the subject, but her outward attire also represents a spotlight.

Delaroche’s only use of angelic imagery is utilized in Lady Jane Grey’s brilliantly radiant satin white attire amongst the bleak background. When I first took a deep glance into this beautiful piece, I was taken aback by Lady Jane Grey’s heavenly appearance, which reminded me of a scene from a play. Theatrical performances heighten or exaggerate an episode by the use of lighting. It is almost as if an imaginary spotlight dramatically moved from its previous position to Lady Jane Grey, strategically maintaining her gracefulness as if the painting itself is life-like play.

This simile regarding Lady Jane Grey being equated to a theatre/spotlight is not very far off considering the theatre grew quite popular during the nineteenth-century, especially the 1820-30s. French theatre maintained a tableau vivant effect to represent the realism of stage performances with characters wearing appropriate period clothing(s) and carrying props; actors, little did they know at the time, were seemingly carrying the weight of modern art through scenes and acts, or pictures of experience(s), much like “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.” It is also strongly considered that Lady Jane Grey is Mademoiselle Anaïs, or Delaroche’s love interest. Anaïs was an actress many assume to be Lady Jane Grey, particularly pointing to their similar build, feminine features, and blonde hair. Lady Jane Grey’s blonde hair is projected as free and wistful. This is unusual for members of the royal court; her hair would have normally been pulled up in a tight bun or braid. Lady Jane Grey’s hairstyle allows the audience to sympathize with the child, seeing that she is out of place both physically and emotionally. While the Queen of Nine Days may emulate Mademoiselle Anaïs solely based on exterior features, they are indeed not the same when looking at their historical significance.

We now return to “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” where we are brought back to the Tower of London just seconds before her beheading. Delaroche was particularly interested in recreating spots in time. Much like Delaroche’s interest in French culture, he grew fond of English art and society after visiting England in the early 1830s. Delaroche visited England twice by 1834, acquainting and educating himself with seventeenth-century Neoclassical history. His visits brought “The Death of Elizabeth I, Queen of England,” “Tower of London, The Princes in the Tower,” and “Cromwell Viewing the Dead Body of Charles I.” Much like Delaroche’s painting “Cromwell Viewing the Dead Body of Charles I,” he used “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” to bring her tragic death to life.

Delaroche transitions the mood from hopeful to acceptance from left to right depending on the figures’ clothes in the background. Before pursuing “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey,” Delaroche encountered several psychological tasks and studies; he wanted to present each character in a proper lens to ensure there were no fabrications or mistaken facial gestures. It is additionally quite interesting how each individual does not make eye contact nor face in the audience’s direction. They are each highly fixated on Lady Jane Grey, refusing to relinquish their focus on the Nine Days’ Queen.

In the far-right portion of the painting there sits a lady lifting her eyes and chin to the sky, and she is holding Lady Jane Grey’s royal robes and jewelry. Having seen the Queen’s robes forcefully taken from her body, she is holding onto her robes, which is quite unusual. When a figure in the royal court dies, they wear their best clothes for burial. However, Lady Jane Grey is only wearing her undergarments, a sign of vulnerability and nakedness.

The woman carrying Lady Jane Grey’s robes is often pronounced as the lady in waiting. Wishing and hoping Mary Tudor would give Lady Jane Grey grace, her visible glance above shows a gesture of humility, coming before God to beg and grant Lady Jane Grey’s life. The lady in waiting’s attire is deep red, insinuating the blood that will be shed from Lady Jane Grey. Those looking onward at the painting will notice straw surrounding the chopping block, which will act as a sponge for Lady Jane Grey’s blood; the way the woman in waiting stretches Lady Jane Grey’s robes around herself and the platform as an additional symbol of what will cover her blood. The woman in waiting’s overall appearance, mannerisms, and praying gestures allow Delaroche to portray his first glimmer of hope for Lady Jane Grey’s life to be saved.

To the left of the woman in waiting is Lady Jane Grey’s nursemaid in all black as if she’s preparing to mourn the soon approaching death. The nursemaid’s role was the additional mother figure in Lady Jane Grey’s life; she looked upon Lady Jane Grey’s face since infancy, yet she cannot bear to see her in such a state. Thus, the nursemaid has her back to the Queen. Knowing Lady Jane Grey’s fate, the nursemaid turns her back, hoping this event will not come to pass, or it is just a dream. Either way, the nursemaid cannot stand the sight of watching her daughter-figure die.

To the far right of Lady Jane Grey stands the executioner with bright red tights, the brightest pop of color aside from Lady Jane Grey’s white underdress, and an ax in his left hand. He stands causally as he waits for the Lieutenant of the Tower to move the chopping block closer to the Queen’s hands. Delaroche paints Lady Jane Grey already wearing the blindfold, but she is struggling to find her chopping block. The motion in his brush strokes reveal her frantic body language when she said, “what shall I do? Where is the block?” While this is happening, it was almost like the executioner was impatiently waiting, wanting to get this over with. While his body language suggests irritation, his facial gesture reveals compassion and empathy. He is watching and actively ending the life of this seventeen-year-old child. However, this does not click until he asks for Lady Jane Grey’s forgiveness. But why? This is an unusual sign of remorse coming from an executioner. Lady Jane Grey then says, “I pray you dispatch me quickly.” With her hands now on the chopping block, she says, “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” This allusion to Jesus’ final sentence before his crucifixion in Luke’s gospel points to the woman in waiting; she is acting like Jesus’ mother holding Jesus’ robes.

The Lieutenant of the Tower is the final figure in “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey.” He is leaning on Lady Jane Grey as he guides the chopping block to her left hand. While he may feel her quivering and shaking, she looks at peace despite her fate. Because she is relatively calm and collected, the Lieutenant catches her energy, relieving himself from the guilt of aiding a murder. Lady Jane Grey’s relaxed nature is then contagious to the Lieutenant. She is not resisting death, rather accepting it. This is indeed a symbol of martyrdom for both her country and her faith. And those who were surrounding Lady Jane Grey, especially the Lieutenant, felt the Queen’s final breath of youthfulness.

Delaroche’s painting, “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey,” is a gorgeous representation of a young woman maintaining her dignity—all the while simultaneously humiliated—for both her God and country. Those who gaze upon this canvas are able to witness a stilled, yet illuminating, version of Lady Jane Grey’s final innocent moments before death. To this day, Delaroche’s realistic image remains an impactful use of Dark Romanism and an example of Protestant martyrdom. 

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