The ‘Lady Jayne’ portrait of Jane Grey, purchased by the National Portrait Gallery after being discovered in a house in Streatham in 2006, has a new home.
Room 2 – The Court of Henry VIII
Montacute House
The portrait is on display at Montactue House (one of the NPG’s regional partners) in Somerset. This National Trust property is home to some of the National Portrait Gallery’s paintings and previously displayed another possible portrait of Jane as part of the ‘On the Nature of Women: Tudor and Jacobean Portraits of Women 1535-1620′ exhibition (April – October 2008 and March – November 2009). You are not allowed to take photos of the paintings belonging to the NPG but the National Trust guide said that you can take photos of the rooms.
Lady Jane Dudley (née Grey)
(c) National Portrait Gallery
The painting is displayed as:
‘Lady Jane Grey
By an unknown artist
Oil on oak panel 1590s’
‘This is one of the earliest surviving portraits of England’s shortest-reigning monarch, Lady Jane Grey, despite being made some 40 years after her death. The sixteen-year-old Jane Dudley (née Grey) was nominated by her cousin, Edward VI, to succeed him and at his death was uncrowned Queen of England for nine days before being deposed and executed by Mary I.
A commemorative portrait, this panel may have formed part of a set of Protestant martyrs. Scratched lines across the eyes and mouth suggest that the painting may have been subjected to an iconoclastic attack at some point in its history.’ (Montacute House)
It was previously on display at the National Portrait Gallery between spring 2007 and April 2009 and at the entrance to the ‘Lady Jane Grey’ display at the National Portrait Gallery from December 2009 until 15th August 2010.
The painting was displayed between December 2009 and August 2010 as:
‘Unknown, 1590s’
‘This panel is one of the earliest surviving portraits of England’s shortest reigning monarch Lady Jane Grey. It was not painted from life or indeed made during her lifetime. It is a commemorative portrait made at least 40 years after her death.’ (National Portrait Gallery)
The painting was displayed between 2007 and 2009 as:
‘Memorial Portrait of Lady Jane Grey (Lady Jayne)
Unknown
16th century’
(National Portrait Gallery)
Also on display in Room 2 – ‘The Court of Henry VIII are 7 other portraits. These include, Henry VIII himself, Queen Katherine Parr, Edward VI and Thomas Moore. You can view these at:
National Portrait Gallery – Room 2 Montacute House
It is nice to see that at last Lady Jane takes her rightful place amongst the Tudor court
Please note – The painting was moved from the National Portrait Gallery, London when Montacute House opened to the public in March 2013 and was returned to the National Portrait Gallery in May 2014 to be included in the ‘Tudors Rediscovered: Kings and Queens Revealed’ exhibition.
Sources
National Portrait Gallery – Lady Jane Dudley (née Grey)
