As I am exposing myself to French and Britain’s history specifically to look at society through the lens of females, I am finding more and more shocking and terrible faces of history – or to summarize – the eras of cruelty. A society where females were never treated as equal parts, where they were just meant to be “family caretakers,” where they never fulfilled their dreams, and where they were sacrificed mercilessly for other gains were the common aspects of the past feminine world. But one of the questions that disturbs me again and again is why, in the first place, they have been relegated to a position of social inferiority on account of their sex. Another question is how far people can go to create exorbitant boundaries and little accessibility to live a life based on their gender. For women, it’s all been difficult to follow a passion in their lives, and they were barred from even the fundamental right to live. Yes, husbands indeed let their wives be slaughtered through false accusations of infidelity and adultery for their own deeds. However, one of the uncommon opinions that might offend many people is that, in some cases, one powerful woman specifically targets another, making their lives worse than Hell. Queen Mary I, the deadliest in British history, executed hundreds of protestants, including many women, for which she was even referred to as ‘Bloody Mary.’ But, the most painful execution that continues to torment us to date was of Jane Grey. Paintings, being the best expression of emotions, unveil the pain of Lady Jane, leaving people in despair and grief for her for centuries. I am introducing you to one of the harshest images by Paul Delaroche, a genius whose fame was overshadowed by Eugène Delacroix and Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres; I am here to tell you about the masterpiece, The Execution of Jane Grey, the painting that popularised the history of Jane Grey.
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is one of the most respected works from Delaroche’s period of exhibition at the Salons, which is also the best-known artwork of the artist, along with the Princes in the Tower. This painting has a history of illuminating its own identity and has a persuasive effect on the viewer through its excellent rendering and sentimentality.
The story starts from a crisp and beautiful morning on 17 September 1834 when Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany arrived at the ancient monastery of the Camaldoli with his grandeur yet modesty with his second secretary and the court painter, Angidini. He reached the place to settle a dispute about the monks’ living requirements that demanded to cut the wood in that beautiful area. However, instead of giving his wholesome attention to this issue, his little attention was caught by the presence of a nearby Hermitage- The Sacro Eremo di Camaldoli, which had tremendously beautiful paintings and decorations by a monk Frenchman with the Legion d’Honneur. This French monk, who lived there for six weeks in order to abstain from worldly orders and life, was none other but Paul Delaroche – a famous artist who started to receive public acclaim for his immensely distinct work and had doubt in his abilities to do wonders on the canvas. Barely twenty-seven, when the Salon of 1824 began to receive public notices, this artist secured a place among the most celebrated artists of the century. In some ten years, when the artist left for Italy in June 1834, he saw his Lady Jane Grey hung in the Salon, which received unending attention among the visitors. Composed in the year before, this painting achieved popular success in salon visits before another artwork headed to its queue. For this reason, this painting also has a reproductive engraving that marks the conditions of its technique. Consigned to the engraver Paul Mercuri, this engraving was completed for its retrospective exhibition of 1857.
Before I tell you about the subject matter or the meaning of the artwork, let me tell you who commissioned it and under what circumstances the artist chose to paint this composition. Being the third and most significant contribution of Delaroche to the Salon of 1834, this large, impressive, and imposing artwork was commissioned by Comte Anatole Demidoff, a wealthy Russian industrialist and collector, for 8,000 francs. Now, you might be wondering that this was a pretty hefty amount to paint at that time, but you will be more shocked to know that this sizeable sum was a bargain. When this artwork came on exhibition, it created extraordinary excitement, and the crowd rushed to see it, as I earlier said, surpassing the popularity of masterpieces like Ingres’s Saint Symphorian and Granet’s Death of Poussin.
Coming to the question, Why Jane Grey? Delaroche had an amazing talent for selecting the most epic subjects of the time, and in truth, the popularity of Jane Grey stemmed directly from its interesting and poignant theme. The other reason which was stated by the Salon catalog is that the theme came from the Martyrologes des Protestants (1588) but the inspiration could have come from different sources. Philippe Burte declared this painting better known than the history of Jane Grey itself, which I sense is true. Had Delaroche not painted The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, the story might not be so widely known.
Since I mentioned that the story of Jane Grey was significant in history among the Catholics and Protestants and also to historians, sociologists, and many more, let me tell you the tale. A depiction of usurpation from English history, the central figure who is blindfolded is Lady Jane Grey. As Edward VI died on July 16, 1553, Lady Jane Grey received the successorship, who was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII’s youngest sister. Lady Jane, a retiring and contemplative by nature did not want to become a successor in the first place, but she sensed the pressure around her, which is why she became the Queen but only to rule for a mere nine days. And six months later, Queen Mary I beheaded her in the Tower. This painting tells the moment before her execution, as she didn’t know what to do and where to go, which is why an old man, Sir Brydges, the constable of the Tower, holds her hand to direct her towards the execution spot. To accompany this scene, a sober yet sympathetic executioner stands on the right with an axe in hand, seeing the helpless Jane Grey and two queen handmaidens mourning uncontrollably over the left. Jane Grey, being only seventeen at the time kneels on the cushion while she searches for the block through her outstretched arms. Her innocent question is the most despondent part of her story, which says,
“What do I do now; Where is the Block?”
The scene further continues when the axe descends, and Jane cries with these words,
“Lord, my soul is in your hands.”
The question still stands- who was Lady Jane, and why was she mercilessly executed? This question is also significant in addressing the symbolism of the painting.
A letter from King Edward reached Princess Elizabeth and Princess Mary, which said he was gravely ill and wished to see them. As soon as they received these letters, Princess Elizabeth mistrusted the Duke as she always thought him to be greedy, cruel, and utterly unscrupulous, marking her decision to not meet him while giving an excuse of being ill, whereas the opportunist Princess Mary hurdled to see her brother as she was well aware of the fact that if he’d die, his thrown would be automatically hers. Long awaited for this crown, she saw it as an opportunity to re-establish the religion that she thought was the only religion, Catholicism. Happier in her mind, the thirty-seven-year-old Princess hastily moved with her large escort of men and ladies to meet Edward. But fate had different plans, as Edward wanted Lady Jane to be his successor instead of the mean and greedy Mary I but there was more drama as the Duke wanted Mary to be dead so that there would be no problem with the rule after his death, which of course didn’t happen because Mary was intelligent enough to escape. One of the best books, which narrates this entire history through compelling storytelling, is The World of Lady Jane Grey by Gladys Malvern, which you can refer to for further reading.
Coming back to the incident, since all the people knew about Mary I, they accepted Lady Jane to be their ruler at the age of sixteen. Fooled by the wit of the Duke, Mary wanted revenge, so she waited and waited until she exactly knew how to hit the stroke for her win. So she left the place and went for long days only to make her own man-army by turning her Catholic members to her pardons and sending a letter to the council proclaiming herself the Queen, but Lady Jane was already a queen then. But the story doesn’t end here, in the end, Princess Mary betrays her by fooling them through Edward Hastings, executing her husband Lord Guildford Dudley first and then her. There was also a religious difference between them as Lady Jane was a Protestant, whereas Princess Mary was a Catholic, due to which her execution turned her into a protestant martyr. There is a lot more in these incidents, which the above book explains most concisely and clearly through the right drama.
Coming to the painting again, there are quite a few things that add up to explaining its symbolism. When you look at the painting, you will find that the central figure, Lady Jane Grey, doesn’t have a fearful response to her death penalty as if she is innocently accepting her fate. Delaroche showed the grieving lady-in-waiting with her back turned in a more explicit way than the actors mirroring the victim’s distress. So, it may be possible that Delaroche depicted the emotions of Lady Jane Grey through these attending ladies. But to me, all three ladies are the victims, with Jane herself being the fulcrum of the painting. One of them looks yearningly away while the second one’s expression of grief migrates all the way through her body as she presses her hands to the pillars. But the artist further strengthens the drama and misery through the bodily awareness of Jane, which she can’t sense but brings a disequilibrium in the composition. The two men- the Lieutenant and the Executioner are not the symbols of monopolizing power or vision, instead, they are just the elements of helplessness. I feel the entire painting is about Jane, but her mental state, grief, and helplessness are portrayed through segments of these figures. One of the keynoting aspects of the artwork is that Jane doesn’t wear her wedding ring here, which symbolizes her husband’s death before her. The space is claustrophobic because there is no space in the painting, and the viewer is bound to be caged inside the pain of Lady Jane.
There are two crucial aspects of The Execution of Lady Jane Grey painting- the representation of the hesitant movement as Lady Jane approaches the block, steadied by the Lietenant’s hand, and the attitude of the future executioner here. The first one was because of the actual fact that Lady Jane cried pitilessly, saying “What shall I do now? Where is the block?” In fact, the artist added special care in conveying this effect of a staccato as it interrupts the forward movement. There is a possibility that he used the noted actress and societaire of the Comédie-Française, Mademoiselle Anaïs, to bring this note in the painting.
One of the significant things to note here is that almost nobody looks at the viewer through the painting. Maybe it’s a shame that they carried while executing the young and innocent Lady Jane Grey, or it’s simply the fact that they don’t wish to engage the viewer in this painful incident. Delaroche has made sure to particularly contrast this entire composition with the assertive colors next to each other to further draw attention to what he called ‘the simultaneous contrasting.’
Opinions and Conclusion
To me, The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is structurally energetic and powerful, which is not only about the wrongdoings of the evil Queen Mary I but also a mark of the central symbol of Christian witness and sacrifice. The painting might have a conclusion of the earthly mission of a saint who sacrificed herself to become a martyr of the Protestant group. But somewhere, I feel that between all the catastrophic events of the tormented history, the picture still captures the state of mind of a human through different emotions and situations. At last, the painting is more about moralizing character and balance instead of exaggeration of the emotions which profoundly moved the soul of the spectator.
Resources.
- Featured Image: The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche; Paul Delaroche, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- PAUL DELAROCHE STUDY (Outstanding dissertations in the fine arts) by Norman D. Ziff.
- Paul Delaroche: History Painted by Stephen Bann.
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