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More from *KristinaGehrmann

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September 26, 2011
1.6 MB
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:iconkristinagehrmann:
In the Tudor era (and probably in the Middle Ages too) it was customary for the executioner to ask the condemned's forgiveness. It was supposed to show that he held no malice towards the victim; that he was only an extension of the law doing his job. By granting forgiveness the condemned also had a chance of showing magnanimity in the face of death, thus leaving a good impression on the spectators.
Lady Jane Grey forgave her executioner, as did Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard before her.

Who was Lady Jane Grey? She was designated queen by young king Edward Seymour (the son and successor of Henry VIII, as you remember).
But when he died in 1553, she managed to be queen for only about 2 weeks, because Henry's daughter Mary Tudor had many supporters and so became queen the same year.
The 17 year old Lady Jane Grey, though she didn't plot against Queen Mary herself, became a symbol of resistance and Protestantism and so became dangerous to the Catholic politics of Mary. Queen Mary had her executed for "high treason" in 1554.

You can read the entire story on Wikipedia here: [link]

Even today historians aren't sure if she had a legitimate claim to the throne or not, so she's usually not included in a line-up of English regents.

Hmm. That's quite a lot of death scenes in my portfolio so far. Perhaps I should paint a birth some time...! Nevermind. The next painting, of course, is going to feature Mary Tudor ("the Catholic" or "Bloody Mary" depending on whose side you're on).

Photoshop and Wacom tablet as always, took about 30 hours or so. (Social life? What's that? XD)
Wood and brick wall textures snatched from cgtextures.com .
Screaming guy referenced from ~alastock - [link]
Lady-in-waiting referenced from `lockstock - [link]
Special thanks to the folks on Conceptart.org for kicking my butt :heart:

WIP can be seen here: [link]

© Kristina Gehrmann

:heart: ------------------------------------ :heart:

Follow me on Facebook!

Or follow my sketchbook on Conceptart.org - regularly updated since 2008...

My web portfolio!

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:iconanjadipaolo:
*AnjaDiPaolo Jun 3, 2013  Professional Digital Artist
I SO love this artwork! Light and storytelling are really strong. :heart:
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:iconkristinagehrmann:
*KristinaGehrmann Jun 3, 2013  Professional Digital Artist
Thank you :heart:
Reply
:iconladyanneboleyn00:
~LadyAnneBoleyn00 Apr 28, 2013
I love how you have made Lady jane look so young!!!!
Reply
:iconkahlanamnell123:
~KahlanAmnell123 Apr 27, 2013
I love the detail you put into these pieces. Specifically the facial expression, you can see the characters personality trough little hints you put here and there. The smirk and pretensious feel you get when looking at the man standing to the right, Lady Jane Grey's sadness and fear, you can also see how shy and young she is just with her positoning. Brilliant!
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:iconmotionacta:
Mood: Wow! ~MotionActa Mar 20, 2013
Wow the detail has a real feel into the picture, Great work
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:iconbragi-dog:
~Bragi-dog Mar 5, 2013
Well, technically she was the legit Queen, Edward's Deuise says so, and as his will was more recent and far more rationale and um less confusing than Henry's mistake and hole-ridden incompetent testament, it leaves it to Edward to select the next ruler, and since mary and bessie were illegitimate, that makes them illegal monarchs thus making Jane next in line and unlawfully killed....
Anyways, enough of my history chatter...... POOOOOORRRR JAAAANNNNEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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:iconwalpurgisak:
~WalpurgisAk Dec 5, 2012
Wouldn't the executioner's blade be flat-tipped?
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:iconriverotter7:
~riverotter7 Jan 28, 2013  Hobbyist Artisan Crafter
He would have had an axe instead of a sword. Anne Boleyn had the Executioner from France come over and "do" her execution with a very sharp sword. The Lady Jane Grey-Dudley, although she might have been crowned (not) for 16 days, was abandoned by everyone she held near and dear once Queen Mary drew near. Even her father the Duke of Northumberland threw down his sword and hailed for Mary once he was beaten in the field.

Mary didn't WANT to execute her cousin. She believed her to be innocent; but again, that whole Spanish marriage thing came into play and the ambassadors kept picking on her to execute Lady Jane otherwise Philip wasn't going to come to England. Poor Mary at 38 thought she could still give birth to a child and give England a male heir. She hadn't had regular menses for years and was probably already going through the uterine cancer which killed her two years later.
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:iconwalpurgisak:
~WalpurgisAk Jan 29, 2013
Thanks for the clarification about the sword. :)
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:iconworldsedge:
*WorldsEdge Sep 28, 2012  Professional Interface Designer
Wow. You can really see how she feels at that moment.
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