Lady Jane Grey was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. After the death of Edward VI in 1553, she became Queen of England, at the age of seventeen.
Only nine days long, her reign was one of the shortest in history. She was deposed by supporters of Mary Tudor and found guilty of treason. This painting, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche, shows Lady Jane as she is blindfolded and guided to the Executioner’s block. The Lieutenant of the Tower of London talks softly to her as the Executioner waits with the axe in hand. To the left, her ladies-in-waiting grieve for her.
It is a powerful, dramatic painting in which the dark background contrasts starkly with the pale, fragile figure of Lady Jane, just moments before her life ended.
Paul Delaroche (1797 – 1856) painted historical subjects and was one of the most popular French painters of the early 1800s. He became famous for his dramatic depictions and emotional emphasis of the subject matter.