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KristinaGehrmann — TheExecution of Lady Jane Grey
Published: 2011-09-26 13:41:36 +0000 UTC; Views: 113845; Favourites: 2058; Downloads: 42
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Description
In the Tudor era (and probably in the Middle Ages too) it was customary for the executioner to ask the condemned's forgiveness. It was supposed to show that he held no malice towards the victim; that he was only an extension of the law doing his job. By granting forgiveness the condemned also had a chance of showing magnanimity in the face of death, thus leaving a good impression on the spectators.Lady Jane Grey forgave her executioner, as did Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard before her.
Who was Lady Jane Grey? She was designated queen by young king Edward Seymour (the son and successor of Henry VIII, as you remember).
But when he died in 1553, she managed to be queen for only about 2 weeks, because Henry's daughter Mary Tudor had many supporters and so became queen the same year.
The 17 year old Lady Jane Grey, though she didn't plot against Queen Mary herself, became a symbol of resistance and Protestantism and so became dangerous to the Catholic politics of Mary. Queen Mary had her executed for "high treason" in 1554.
You can read the entire story on Wikipedia here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Jan…
Even today historians aren't sure if she had a legitimate claim to the throne or not, so she's usually not included in a line-up of English regents.
Hmm. That's quite a lot of death scenes in my portfolio so far. Perhaps I should paint a birth some time...! Nevermind. The next painting, of course, is going to feature Mary Tudor ("the Catholic" or "Bloody Mary" depending on whose side you're on).
Photoshop and Wacom tablet as always, took about 30 hours or so. (Social life? What's that? XD)
Wood and brick wall textures snatched from cgtextures.com .
Screaming guy referenced from alastock - alastock.deviantart.com/art/sc…
Lady-in-waiting referenced from lockstock - lockstock.deviantart.com/art/T…
Special thanks to the folks on Conceptart.org for kicking my butt
WIP can be seen here: img196.imageshack.us/img196/34…
© Kristina Gehrmann
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Comments: 256
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From what is currently known, Jane did have a legitimate claim, but according to Henry VIII's will she was fourth in line behind Henry's son Edward and two daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Edward later changed his father's will by ruling out Mary and Elizabeth in favor of Jane. As Jane was Edward's fellow Protestant, he did this to prevent Catholic Mary from ruling and keep England from returning to Papal authority. 
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There is some question from historical point of view... First: Jane Greya was a honorable lady, pretendent to the throne. So, she was executed in full, great robe - not in chemise only. It would be dishonor. Second - beheading with the sword in Europe was without a block. You can break headsman's sword on the block 
So it is enough of the history.
This is great work, full of expression.
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i live near bradgate park the home of lady jane grey.. only ruins now but still worth a visit if ever in Leicestershire
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The ruins of her home Bradgate house stand in Bradgate park that's not far from where I live since I live on the outskirts of the city of Leicester, It's also said that her ghost haunts the ruins of Bradgate House, and is said to attend Christmas eve mass every year at the church at Newtown Linford, Peapole have heard the sound of a horse-drawn carriage going from the ruins of Bradgate House to Newtown Linford, some have seen the carriage and have even seen Lady Jane Grey holding her severed head in her lap.
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it's an amazing painting, so sad though, all that tragedy. well don e piece of art.
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Her claim was shaky at best. Edward had named her his successor in his will bypassing his half sisters Mary and Elizabeth.
My understanding is she was the great granddaughter of one Thomas Grey.
One of Elizabeth Woodville's two sons by her previous marriage (before she married Edward IV)
Jane was a cousin to Edward of course ...
the laws of succession were not so well defined then, and any member of the family could put forth a claim (provided he or she had enough swords)
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What the actual fuck was Edward thinking. Even his father wouldn't pull off a stunt like this
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This execution was 1,000,000% unjustified. If Mary didn't want Lady Jane Grey to be the next queen, why didn't she speak up before the coronation took place? She had to have known that it was coming.
Also, I don't think Lady Jane Grey actually ever wanted to be the Queen of England. It was Edward's idea, not Jane's.
Finally, even if Lady Jane Grey had committed treason, that was no reason to execute her. The Bible endorses the death penalty for murderers (see Leviticus 24:17, "And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death"), but not for what Lady Jane Grey did. I live in the United States, and I cannot understand why some murderers get the death penalty and some don't. I would give ALL convicted murderers the death penalty. And I would make their deaths painful deaths. For example, most executions in the United States are performed by lethal injection. But most murders in the United States are committed using guns and knives. Some are even committed with bombs. The Boston Marathon bomber should be executed the way Lady Jane Grey was executed. It would be more painful and the blade could be reused.
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I greatly enjoy your work. A great deal of people with "Royal" blood died due to fear by the current ruling branch of the family. While Mary would certainly be before Jane in the succession, there were certainly those rulers that had less strength in their claim to the throne before and after Jane. Looking forward to more of your work!
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Lady Jane was beheaded with an axe and chopping block; Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword, by a French executioner from Calais. Just wondering why Jane's executioner has a sword in his hand. There is also a chopping block, and a block was not usually used with a sword. Jane was beheaded in the morning, and in late afternoon, a prominent visitor arrived at the Tower, and Jane's headless body and head were still upon the scaffold, according to an account I read. Jane did indeed use a blindfold, and her confessor helped her find the block to place her neck, not being able to find it without her vision. Very excellent artwork, just not historically accurate (sword and chopping block and no blindfold) for this particular execution.
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I believe that the practice was to use the sword by itself (swung like a baseball bat) and the block was only used with the axe.
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Wow the figures have a strong expression.
I can see what they feel!
You specialize you on the middle age or?
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Thanks, I specialize in history illustration in general.
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Wow, this is remarkably!
I will watch you and be waiting for more awesome illustrations!
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I think I read a book about that poor girl. Heartbreaking to lose ones life at such a young age. But the pic is awesome.
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Henry and Mary killed a lot of people...
I like Elizabeth the best
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She was blindfolded in her execution if im not mistaken.
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Beautiful artwork!
Jane Grey did have a bit of claim to the throne since her mother, Lady Frances Grey was the daughter of Mary Tudor, Queen of France's daughter (King Henry VIII's younger sister). The thing was, her cousin Mary had a bigger claim being the daughter of Henry VIII and the will listed her as an heir to the throne despite her previous status as illegitimate.
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I love that you have done Tudor times! It was such an interesting time period
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Somewhere I read that Jane first saw Mary as her friend then felt really betrayed when Mary sent her to die for no reason except for just 'being an obstacle' basically while some claim that Mary was forced to do it by the ambassadors of Spain telling her that her 'love' wouldn't come to England under the Protestant rule.
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Yes, but this painting isn't of Jane Seymour. It's of Jane Grey.
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Well thought and researched premise for an artistic piece! APPLAUSE!!
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Wow, this reminds me of the Old Masters' work.. very impressive!
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great story surrounding this, and great depiction of the scene
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I love Tudor era's. I read all books about it... It is an amazing era of UK History, and tjis paint is gorgeous! I love it
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I'm surprised to see a Lady Jane painting. This is a great painting. I'll have to show my sister, she was really into studying Lady Jane. She even dressed up as her for a school project.
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I SO love this artwork! Light and storytelling are really strong.
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I love how you have made Lady jane look so young!!!!
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I love the detail you put into these pieces. Specifically the facial expression, you can see the characters personality trough little hints you put here and there. The smirk and pretensious feel you get when looking at the man standing to the right, Lady Jane Grey's sadness and fear, you can also see how shy and young she is just with her positoning. Brilliant!
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Wow the detail has a real feel into the picture, Great work
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Well, technically she was the legit Queen, Edward's Deuise says so, and as his will was more recent and far more rationale and um less confusing than Henry's mistake and hole-ridden incompetent testament, it leaves it to Edward to select the next ruler, and since mary and bessie were illegitimate, that makes them illegal monarchs thus making Jane next in line and unlawfully killed....
Anyways, enough of my history chatter...... POOOOOORRRR JAAAANNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Wouldn't the executioner's blade be flat-tipped?
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He would have had an axe instead of a sword. Anne Boleyn had the Executioner from France come over and "do" her execution with a very sharp sword. The Lady Jane Grey-Dudley, although she might have been crowned (not) for 16 days, was abandoned by everyone she held near and dear once Queen Mary drew near. Even her father the Duke of Northumberland threw down his sword and hailed for Mary once he was beaten in the field.
Mary didn't WANT to execute her cousin. She believed her to be innocent; but again, that whole Spanish marriage thing came into play and the ambassadors kept picking on her to execute Lady Jane otherwise Philip wasn't going to come to England. Poor Mary at 38 thought she could still give birth to a child and give England a male heir. She hadn't had regular menses for years and was probably already going through the uterine cancer which killed her two years later.
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Thanks for the clarification about the sword.
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Wow. You can really see how she feels at that moment.
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When ever I read Lady Janes story I feel really sorry for her she was so young and she just got caught between a rock and a hard place because of Mary who was such a tyrant.
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