Below the artwork
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Blindfolded and kneeling, Lady Jane Grey reaches for the execution block while Sir John Brydges guides her through the darkness.
The record
Delaroche stages the moment with theatrical precision: white fabric, straw, velvet, and shadow guide the eye toward a young queen whose reign lasted only nine days. The National Gallery records that Jane was deposed by supporters of Mary Tudor and beheaded at Tower Green in 1554.
- Artist
- Paul Delaroche
- Date
- 1833
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 246 × 297 cm
- Culture / place
- France
- Current context
- National Gallery, London, Room 38
Details to carry with you
- Lady Jane Grey reigned for nine days after Edward VI's death.
- The National Gallery records the painting as 246 × 297 cm.
- The executioner and two ladies-in-waiting complete the scene's staged triangle of grief.
