Portraits of Lady Jane Grey Dudley, England's 'Nine Days Queen' - by John Stephan Edwards (Paperback)

About the Book

Examines 29 portraits said to depict Lady Jane Grey Dudley, England's 'Nine Days Queen' of 1553, with an Introduction that includes a biographical sketch of Jane Grey and an overview of the mythology that surrounds her name.

Book Synopsis

This revised edition provides important new additions to a previous title by the same author published in 2014. Since that earlier work, two 'lost' portraits said to depict Jane Grey Dudley have re-emerged and are considered here in much greater detail. Lady Jane Grey Dudley was proclaimed Queen of England on 10 July 1553 following the untimely death of Henry VIII's only son and successor, King Edward VI. But sixteen-year-old Jane lacked the support of a majority of her would-be subjects, who rallied instead to Henry VIII's eldest daughter, Mary Tudor. Jane was deposed after just nine days, earning for her the sobriquet 'The Nine Days Queen.' She was imprisoned in the Tower for six months before finally being executed on 12 February 1554. Queen Jane remains the only English monarch of the past five centuries for whom no genuine portrait is known to have survived. Dozens of images have been put forward over those five centuries, but none has yet been conclusively authenticated. This work remains the only comprehensive academic study of the iconography of Jane Grey Dudley ever published. Twenty-nine surviving portrait-images said to depict Jane have been carefully and systematically sought out, analyzed, and contextualized in an effort to determine whether any of them may be a reliable likeness. A handful of additional paintings all now lost are also discussed in detail. Finally, the single written account of Jane's physical appearance, an account upon which historians have relied over the past century, is analyzed for its own authenticity.

Review Quotes

I could not put this book down!! A very well researched book containing an analysis of 29 portraits thought to have represented Lady Jane Grey at some point through their history. - Amazon review by JL Porritt

Wonderful book. Each painting is given a full assessment as to whether the subject could be Lady Jane. Thoroughly researched in terms of provenance and other historical records, as well as detailed assessment of key features on the paintings which could provide clues as to identification. A very good read. - Amazon review by Neil45

Although the book is a scholarly work and references current historical research throughout, the reader never feels excluded from the narrative, which engages and fascinates both the professional historian and the amateur Tudor enthusiast. - Amazon review by Foose