WREST PARK, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by English Heritage, an enigmatic portrait may depict the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey, making it the only one painted of the Protestant queen in her lifetime. Grey was cousin to Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, and was proclaimed Queen of England at the age of 15 when Henry’s young son died in 1553. However, her reign lasted just nine days before she was deposed, and eventually executed in 1554, by a faction of Catholics who supported Henry’s daughter, Mary I. The painting has been in the historic collection of Wrest Park for many years, but there has been controversy over who it actually portrays. Some originally claimed that the sitter was Lady Jane Grey herself, though that argument was subsequently rejected. A new research team examined the painting using X-ray fluorescence and infrared reflectography and also dated it using dendrochronology. The wood panels on which the portrait was painted date to between 1539 and 1571, which align with Jane’s lifetime. Art historians determined that the image was likely originally that of the doomed queen, and that it had been considerably altered after her death, perhaps to portray her as a Protestant martyr. “The new research provides tantalizing evidence which brings us much closer to the assertion that this could be Lady Jane Grey,” said Peter Moore, English Heritage curator at Wrest Park. To read about the discovery of Lady Jane Grey's childhood home, go to "Around the World: England."
