The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is an 1833 historical painting by French artist of the Romantic period Paul Delaroche. Depicted in “The Execution of Lady Jane Grey” is the young Queen of England Lady Lane Grey moments before her execution.
Lady Jane Grey, also known as the Nine Days Queen was coronated on July 10, 1553, only to be executed on July 19. She was 17 years old at the time. Jane was named as Edward VI’s successor and support quickly turned to Mary I and Lady Jane Grey was quickly executed for high treason in the Tower of London.
Lady Jane Grey is depicted in white representing her purity and the executioner is in red, for the evil in what he is moments from doing.
The picture is extremely large – measuring almost three meters wide and was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1834, receiving a positive reception even just 40 years after the same fate of decapitation being used to execute France’s own Queen – Marie Antoinette.
Delaroche painted Joan of Arc Being Interrogated nine years earlier (1824) in a similar style.
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey was thought to be a lost painting until being rediscovered in 1973 in the Tate Gallery.
Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is currently in the National Gallery in London, United Kingdom, and is one of their most popular works on display.