The painted portraits of Lady Jane Grey are exceedingly scarce, and probably not a single one of them is authentic; on the other hand, very early and almost contemporary engraved portraits are fairly numerous. The oldest of these latter is one by E. V. Wyngaerde. It bears a certain resemblance to the portrait of her grandfather, the Duke of Suffolk, by Jacobus Corvinus, in the possession of Sir Frederick Cook at Richmond. Although Wyngaerde engraved it in the middle part of the reign of Elizabeth, when many persons were still living, the Queen herself included, who had seen Jane Grey, and who could have set him right, he attributes the original to Hans Holbein, who died in London of the plague, according to recent discovery, in 1543, that is to say, when Jane was but six years old, a fact which renders it impossible for him to have painted any of the numerous portraits attributed to him of Edward VI as a lad in his teens, Edward being born in the same year and month as Lady Jane. The portrait of Jane Grey from which Wyngaerde engraved is evidently by some other artist who painted in the style of Holbein, presumably one of his pupils. It must be remembered that in our own time people are constantly attributing to Gainsborough and Reynolds portraits they could not have painted, so in the seventeenth century it was the fashion to attribute every portrait of the early part of the preceding century to Holbein, whose great name was remembered, whilst those of his lesser contemporaries were forgotten.
(2) In the Earl of Stamford and Warrington’s collection there is a very ancient portrait of Lady Jane Grey, engraved by Lodge. It is not well painted, but is none the less extremely interesting. The features are small and delicate. The costume is rich but simple, and the pretty neckerchief is fastened at the bosom by a bunch of flowers.
(3) Another frequently engraved portrait of Jane Grey, also attributed to Holbein, and engraved in George Howard’s Life of Lady Jane Grey, was for many years in the possession of the late Mr. Wenman Martin, of Upper Seymour Street. The costume is exceedingly rich.
(4) Probably on account of its excessive prettiness, the celebrated picture called “Jane Grey,” in the possession of Lord Spencer, at Althorpe, is likely to remain the most popular likeness of Lady Jane. It represents a sweet-looking young woman of about sixteen, seated by a window, reading an illuminated missal. By her side, on a table, stands a richly chiselled goblet or chalice. The dress is of ruby velvet, made very plain, and with hanging sleeves of a darker material. It was engraved in the last century by Dibden, as the frontispiece of the Decameron, a work which certainly has no association whatever with the poor little “Nine Days’ Queen.” By its general neatness and vivid colouring, this picture may very reasonably be attributed to Luca Penni, an Italian and pupil of Raphael, who painted a good deal in England under Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Mary. There is a very singular fact connected with this Althorpe picture. The noble Milanese family of Trevulzio has possessed for many generations an almost identical picture which has always been known as a portrait of Lady Jane Grey. A photograph of this picture is in my hands, and certainly the resemblance between it and the Althorpe picture is remarkable. Lord Spencer has most kindly afforded me some interesting details connected with his own picture. “It has been,” he said, “for many generations in our family, and can be traced as a portrait of Lady Jane Grey as far back as the seventeenth century.” Some years ago, Lord Spencer took it down from its place in his gallery, and found on the back of it an inscription in the handwriting of his grandmother, Lavinia, Countess Spencer, to the effect that the picture was a portrait of the Lady Jane Grey, and that what she had written was copied from a much older inscription, which had been nearly obliterated by time. Lord Spencer many years ago saw at Milan the picture above-mentioned, and was struck by its likeness to his own, of which it might have been a copy. Sir George Scharf, although an authority on portraiture, was apt at times to have prejudices and to cast doubt on those historical portraits which have been handed down as authentic for many generations; and his singular ignorance or rather disregard of the value of costume in determining the period of a picture often led him into ludicrous errors of judgment. His reason for discarding the Althorpe portrait of Lady Jane Grey appears rather unreasonable. He objected to it because a tall standing goblet or chalice figures conspicuously on the table beside the lady, such a chalice being, according to him, an attribute of St. Mary Magdalen, and so, too, is the skull, which is not present in this picture. However, an extraordinary number of Tudor portraits represent great ladies with a similar goblet standing beside them. These gold and silver chalices or cups were a common gift from royal god-fathers and mothers in Tudor times, and were frequently stolen from the churches. Lady Jane, we know from the inventories of her effects, had several in her possession.
(5) An exceedingly beautiful portrait, said to represent Lady Jane Grey, is at Madresfield, Lord Beauchamp’s seat in Worcestershire. The face bears a resemblance to that in the engraving by Wyngaerde, and the costume is undoubtedly one that Lady Jane might have worn, and consists of a rich velvet gown, cut square at the neck and filled in with soft lawn and lace. Her head-dress is very elaborate and graceful. Her expression is sweet and noble. This picture is wrongly ascribed to Lucas Van Heere, and is more likely to have been painted by Streete. Independently of its historical interest, it is a beautiful picture. On the other hand, its companion, supposed to represent Lord Guildford Dudley, is absolutely wrong. It represents a tall young gentleman with strongly-marked features and a vapid expression. It is the costume that gives the lie to the tradition that it is the portrait of Lady Jane’s husband, for the dress, with its voluminous ruff, is of the mid-Elizabethan period, and at least twenty-five years later than the death of the unfortunate young gentleman it is said to represent; but, on the other hand, the little velvet cap, with its two plumes, is certainly of the time of Edward VI. The ruff may have been added at a later date by an ignorant restorer.
(6) There is a curious portrait, probably of Lady Jane Grey, in the possession of J. Knight, Esq., of Chawton House, Alton.
(7) A very remarkable portrait, called “Jane Grey,” was formerly in the possession of Colonel Elliot; said to be now in one of the Colleges at Oxford. It was, however, engraved in 1830, and has lately been reproduced in colour by Messrs. Graves of Pall Mall. The face is that of an older person than Lady Jane, but the features are small and pretty, the expression being rather defiant and world-wise. She wears a turban-shaped hat of velvet, studded with immense pearls, which was certainly not in fashion in the days of Edward VI, or even in the last years of Henry VIII. Here again is an instance of costume giving the lie to tradition. Lady Jane could no more have worn such a hat and costume than a lady in 1909 could be painted as wearing the crinoline and spoon-shaped bonnet of mid-Victorian days.
(8) The small semi-miniature in the National Portrait Gallery is wrongly attributed to Lucas Van Heere, who was born in the year of Jane’s execution, and could therefore neither have painted the portrait in question nor any one of the numerous likenesses of Queen Mary ascribed to him, since he was only five years of age when that Queen died.
(9) A small portrait called “Jane Grey” is in the possession of Lord Hastings at Melton Constable, Norfolk.
(10) “A splendid portrait of Jane Grey” was exhibited at the Derby Art Exhibition in 1841—mentioned by Howard. It belonged to a Mr. Harrington, who inherited it from two ancient ladies, the Misses Gray of Derby, in the possession of whose family this picture had been for many generations.