Is This the Only Known Portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the Doomed Teen Royal?

New research suggests that a long overlooked painting may in fact be the only known portrait of Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen of England in 1553 at the age of just 16. Her reign lasted barely longer than a week, earning her the moniker of the “Nine Days Queen.”

A team of historians and conservators led by the charity English Heritage have submitted the painting to a series of high-tech tests in order to back up this breakthrough discovery. The findings also show that, after Grey’s death, her eyes, mouth, and ears were scratched out, suggesting a deliberate iconoclastic attack on her legacy as a Protestant martyr.

The rare artwork is now returning on loan to Wrest Park, a historic 18th-century estate that lies north of London, where it was kept until the estate was sold in 1917.

“While we can’t confirm that this is definitely Lady Jane Grey, our results certainly make a compelling argument!” declared Rachel Turnbull, senior collections conservator at English Heritage. “Regardless of her identity, the results of our research have been fascinating.”

Like many who found themselves caught up in the ruthless power plays of Tudor politics, Grey paid with her life. After she was overthrown by Queen Mary I, Grey, a devout Protestant, became a figurehead for those who wished to overthrow her successor and put an end to her attempts to restore Catholicism in England. True to her nickname of “Bloody Mary,” the feisty queen eventually had Grey beheaded at the Tower of London. It was a tactic she must have learned from her father, Henry VIII.

It is the moments leading up to this unfortunate fate that have become Grey’s defining art-historical legacy until now, thanks to a dramatic reimagining of the scene by French painter Paul Delaroche. The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (1833) at the National Gallery in London appears to have a timeless appeal, having recently gone viral on TikTok, but it was made several centuries after the teen queen’s death.

Despite this much admired depiction of Grey, there was no portrait of the doomed monarch that was known to have been painted while she was still alive. Until now, the best indication of what she might have looked like was the “Streatham” portrait, a damaged painting by an unknown artist that was made in the 1590s, some decades after Grey died in 1554. It was acquired by London’s National Portrait Gallery on the understanding that it is a copy of a lost portrait of Grey that was made during her lifetime, although this claim has been contested.

Long-forgotten, however, was another mysterious painting that experts now believe may have been a contemporary portrait of the ill-fated queen. According to Peter Moore, English Heritage’s curator at Wrest Park, the work was considered “the defining image of the ‘Nine Days Queen’ for over 300 years, until its attribution was thrown into doubt and its identity rejected.”

It is only now that the painting, on loan to Wrest Park from a private collection, has been reconsidered, with the benefit of cutting-edge technology. The team of researchers hailed from English Heritage and the Courtauld Institute of Art.

The wooden panel supporting the painting has been subjected to dendrochronology, the scientific method of dating tree rings, indicating that it was likely used sometime between 1539 and around 1571. This has allowed researchers to determine that the painting may indeed have been made during Grey’s lifetime.

However, the revelations did not end there. Other analyses, including infrared reflectography, have revealed that the sitter’s dress was significantly altered sometime after the original image’s completion. A white scarf was added over Grey’s shoulders and changes to the sleeve may suggest that decorative detailing was removed or that the sitter had previously appeared with a scarf instead wrapped around her lower arms, which would be consistent with other depictions of Grey.

More surprising still, the new scans have unveiled other chapters in the painting’s storied past. They show that at some point the sitter’s facial features—her eyes, mouth, and ears—were deliberately scratched out. The researchers believe this might be evidence of an iconoclastic attack against Grey, motivated by politic or religion. The same marks can be found on the Streatham portrait at the National Portrait Gallery.

“From the newly discovered evidence of a once perhaps more elaborate costume and the dating of the wooden panel from within her lifetime, to the deliberate scratching of her eyes, it is possible that we are looking at the shadows of a once more royal portrait of Lady Jane Grey, toned down into subdued, Protestant martyrdom after her death,” according to Turnbull.

The newly identified portrait is one of seven paintings that are going on public display at Wrest Park today, March 7. These include the recently acquired portrait of Jemima Marchioness Grey, who owned the historic country estate in the 18th-century, which returns to the library where it hung before 1917.