Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
by and published by Valentine Green, and published by Rupert Green, after Johann Gerhard Huck
engraving, published 1786
8 1/2 in. x 6 in. (216 mm x 153 mm) plate size
Purchased with help from the Friends of the National Libraries and the Pilgrim Trust, 1966
Reference Collection
NPG D36327
Sitterback to top
- Lady Jane Dudley (née Grey) (1537-1554), Proclaimed Queen 1553. Sitter associated with 57 portraits. Identify
Artistsback to top
- Rupert Green (1767 or 1768-1804), Publisher; son of Valentine and Mary Green. Artist or producer associated with 5 portraits, Sitter in 4 portraits.
- Valentine Green (1739-1813), Mezzotint engraver. Artist or producer associated with 150 portraits, Sitter in 3 portraits.
- Johann Gerhard Huck (1759-1811), Artist. Artist or producer associated with 2 portraits.
This portraitback to top
This print is the key to a large mezzotint of Lady Jane Grey being led to the scaffold as she watches the body of her executed husband being carried away. It was part of a series of twelve prints depicting scenes of the English queens. The set was produced under the patronage of Queen Charlotte and sold for £20. The numbered figures show Lady Jane Grey, her weeping ladies-in-waiting, a sympathetic guard holding a pike and the tonsured head of Abbott Feckenham.
Events of 1786back to top
Current affairs
Philosopher and politician Edmund Burke instigates impeachment proceedings against Warren Hastings, former Governor-General of Bengal after concerns about the moral standards of the British in India are raised.Prime Minister William Pitt appoints commissioners for the reduction of the national debt and establishes a sinking fund of £1 million a year.
Government approves the establishment of a penal colony at Botany Bay.
Art and science
Robert Burns publishes Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect bringing him immediate success across the country.Engraver and publisher John Boydell initiates plans for his Shakespeare Gallery in an effort to establish a school of British history painting.
Merchant David Dale establishes New Lanark in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, as a model cotton milling community.
International
General Charles Cornwallis succeeds Warren Hastings as Governor-General in India.Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Marriage of Figaro premieres in Vienna.
Francisco Goya is appointed court painter to the Spanish king Charles III.
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