Lady Jane Grey or Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre?

"New" Discovery or Old News?

On 6 March 2025, news spread across media outlets that the so called Wrest Park Portrait from a private collection may be "the only known portrait of England's tragic ‘nine-day teen Queen.’" This refers, of course, to the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey, whose brief reign lasted from her proclamation on 10 July 1553 until she was deposed by her cousin, Mary I—Henry VIII’s elder daughter—on 19 July 1553. Lady Jane was executed on 12 February 1554.

Source: Artnet

Jane Grey’s true appearance remains a mystery, as no confirmed likeness of her exists, though a portrait of her was recorded in Bess of Hardwick’s 1566 inventory. In the past, historians cited what was believed to be an eyewitness account describing Jane as having:

“small features and a well-made nose, the mouth flexible and the lips red. The eyebrows are arched and darker than her hair, which is nearly red. Her eyes are sparkling and reddish brown in colour. I stood so near her grace that I noticed her colour was good but freckled. When she smiled she showed her teeth, which are white and sharp. In all a gracious and animated figure.”

However, author Leanda de Lisle later proved this description to be a hoax.

New discovery?

Now, headlines suggest that “a long overlooked painting may in fact be the only known portrait of Lady Jane Grey”, presenting it as a new discovery.

Is it a new discovery? Not really. The association between the Wrest Park Portrait and Lady Jane Grey dates back to 1681 when Robert White created an engraving of the painting as an illustration of Jane Grey in Gilbert Burnet’s renowned History of the Reformation of the Church of England.

Called Lady Jane Grey, by Robert White, 1681.

In 2007, British art historian Dr. Bendor Grosvenor, in his entry for the exhibition catalogue of the Philip Mould Historical Portraits Gallery in London, argued that the Wrest Park Portrait is a possible posthumous depiction of Lady Jane Grey—a claim supported by dendrochronological analysis. Dr. Grosvenor reminded his followers about this in his recent post on X.

Dr. Bendor Grosvenor on X, 7 March 2025.

OK, but is the Wrest Park Portrait truly a depiction of Lady Jane Grey?

The researchers from the English Heritage argue that “the sitter’s facial features—her eyes, mouth, and ears—were deliberately scratched out” and that “this might be evidence of an iconoclastic attack against Grey, motivated by politic or religion. The same marks can be found on the Streatham portrait at the National Portrait Gallery.” There is also a “merchant or cargo mark identical to one used on a royal portrait of Edward VI.”

Does this confirm that the sitter is Jane Grey? Perhaps. However, the articles promoting the Wrest Park Portrait as an "overlooked" image of Jane fail to mention that the sitter was identified as Mary Fiennes in 2014.

Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre?

In his article "A Life Framed in Portraits: An Early Portrait of Mary Nevill Fiennes, Lady Dacre," historian J.S. Edwards persuasively argued that the sitter is not Lady Jane Grey but rather Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre. Edwards identified the Wrest Park Portrait sitter as Mary Fiennes based on:

• the painting’s provenance; it belonged to Dorothy North Lennard, second wife and widow of Richard Lennard, 13th Baron Dacre, before it was acquired in 1701 by Henry Grey, 12th Earl of Kent;

• dendrochronological dating of the wood panel;

• sitter’s costume; Edwards points out that the humble clothes of the sitter and the presence of violets suspended from her pearl necklace indicate that she is still in mourning; Mary Fiennes’s husband was executed in 1541 and she was always depicted in portraits as a grieving widow, despite her later remarriage;

• physical resemblance between the sitter in the Wrest Park Portrait and Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre, from the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa (one of my favourite portraits!)

  

  A painting of Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre, preserved in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Conclusion: Don’t trust the media!

The researchers from the English Heritage admit that “we can’t confirm that this is definitely Lady Jane Grey”. This is true, as there is no compelling indication that the sitter from the Wrest Park Portrait is really Lady Jane Grey. Personally, I’m swayed by the well-researched arguments of historian J.S. Edwards that the sitter is Mary Fiennes, Baroness Dacre, rather than Jane Grey. Read Edward’s article here and visit his website Some Grey Matter, dedicated to spreading the truth about Lady Jane Grey.