Artist: Solomon Alexander Hart (1806-1881)
Year: 1860
Title: Lady Jane Grey, a prisoner of the Tower of London, refusing to accede to the solicitations of Feckenham, Queen Mary’s confessor, to abandon the Protestant faith.
Materials: oil on canvas
Size: 40 ½ x 34 ½ inches
Thoughts:
A painting depicting a scene from the 10th Feburary 1554. John Feckenham, confessor to Queen Mary visited Lady Jane Grey in the Tower of London in the hope of converting Jane to the Catholic faith. The debate that took place between the two individuals was documented and apparently signed in Jane’s own hand. Within months of her death printed material containing the famous debate were being produced and circulated to demonstrate Jane’s strong religious beliefs in the Protestant faith.
Jane is seen seated at her desk reading and surrounded by her books whilst Feckenham stands behind her. The depiction of Jane appears to be loosely based on the Wrest Park portrait as the distinctive white shawl can be seen around Jane’s shoulders. Feckenham is depicted as a more mature man but he was probably born around 1515 which would have made him thirty-nine or forty years old when this debate took place.
The painting was exhibited in the Royal Academy of Arts in 1860 and was referred to in the catalouge as
204 – Lady Jane Grey, a prisoner of the Tower of London, refusing to accede to the solicitations of -Feckenham, Queen Mary’s confessor, to abandon the Protestant faith. -See English History – S.A Hart.[1]
The painting was sold on 30th November 1988 by Bonhams, Toronto as lot 127. No provenance was listed in the catalouge for this sale.
Digital Resources:
[1] The Exhibition of The Royal Academy of Arts, MDCCCLX (1860), page 12
Lady Jane Grey Revisited 