Profoundly moving execution scene

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche had been written off as irreparably damaged in a flood, but was found in good condition at the National Gallery London. Photo / Supplied

It is a grand painting with three grand stories: its subject, its reputation and its rescue. The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche is one of the most popular paintings at the National Gallery in London. The huge work captures so much attention the floor in front of where it usually hangs has to be repeatedly repolished as so many people stop to look at it.

The subject is touching. A blindfolded, beautiful young woman is assisted towards a block standing on the floor of a room in the Tower of London. Her ladies-in-waiting weep, one turns away, unable to watch. A tall good-looking executioner stands ready with a huge axe. Straw has been spread on the floor where the head will roll. The key note of the work is red contrasted with the white of the young woman's underclothes.

The woman is Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for just nine days. After the death of Henry VIII, his young son Edward became king but Edward died in his teens of tuberculosis. Edward mistrusted two of the claimants to the throne, Mary and Elizabeth, because he believed they might bring the country back to Catholicism. The young king was sturdily Protestant and he supported a third claimant, Lady Jane Grey, who had a claim to the throne as the granddaughter of Henry VII. Lady Jane was 16 years old and renowned for her piety and scholarship. Her Greek and Latin were excellent and she was studying Hebrew.

Supported by the Duke of Northumberland, she was hastily married and at Edward's death proclaimed queen. There was a little to-ing and fro-ing of armies but Mary's supporters triumphed and the Catholic "Bloody Mary", as she was known to history, became the ruler of England. Lady Jane Grey was swiftly condemned to die.

After her death she became a Protestant martyr and a popular figure of great pathos. Over time the legend has grown, and there were many illustrations of her death - but none so powerful as the one by Delaroche.

It was not just a single work that made him famous. In his time at the middle of the 19th century, his fame equalled that of the great French artists Delacroix and Ingres who dominated the French artistic scene before the Impressionists.

Delaroche specialised in huge paintings of episodes from history. Surprisingly for a French artist, he often chose to depict English history, famously the Princes in the Tower just as their murderer approaches. The painting still has an honoured place in the Louvre, alongside his gigantic painting of the death of Elizabeth I.

He was particularly attracted to the figure of Charles I. One of his most famous paintings shows Oliver Cromwell, who ordered his execution, contemplating the body of Charles I, reunited with his head in his coffin, with the bloody severing cut on the neck very prominent. In the picture of the execution of Lady Jane Grey the blood is implied, not shown. The beautiful young woman in her immaculate white silk undergarment, her eyes covered with a thick white blindfold, gropes with her exquisite white arms and delicate fingers towards the block, assisted by the Lieutenant of the Tower, who gently helps her forward. The block in the foreground is fastened to the floor by rope passed through thick ring bolts. No frantic hand by the victim will be able to push it aside.

The executioner, dressed in the uniform of the Tower, stands in a graceful pose. His elegant legs are dressed in tight red hose, the badge on his shoulder is red. He has a belt around his waist. In the belt, what looks like a dagger is actually a sheath knife. This is necessary in case the head is not completely cut off and hangs by threads of skin or tendon. Equally sinister are the prominent looped cords also tucked in his belt, which will tie the victim's hands so they cannot interfere. He, in his vivid colouring and compassionate poise, makes an unforgettable impression.

The straw in front of the block is, like everything else in the painting, painted with exact realism. History painters such as Delaroche placed great emphasis on getting the details authentic. The garments and headdresses of the mourning ladies-in-waiting are painted with great accuracy born of a careful study of Tudor fashions. It is surprising, therefore, that the long undergarment worn by Lady Jane should have a 19th century look. Perhaps because the model was a prominent actress she had some choice in the matter.

The painting caused a huge sensation when it exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1853. People crowded to see it and it was bought by an extremely wealthy Russian, Count Demidoff, who carried it off to Italy. It was later purchased by an English nobleman and given to the National Gallery in 1902, but reputation is fickle. By that time taste had completely turned against narrative historical painting and the art establishment curled their lip at it as "sentimental", a term of abuse.

It was moved from the National Gallery to the Tate Gallery right by the Thames River. In 1928, the Thames flooded and nine lower galleries were filled with water; many paintings, including works by Turner, were damaged. The Delaroche work is among 18 paintings listed as "ruined". It was forgotten.

Then came the "rescue". In 1973, a young curator at the Tate, Christopher Johnstone, who was later to become director of the Auckland City Gallery and settle in New Zealand as an arts writer, was working on his first book: a monograph on the English painter John Martin who always worked on a large scale. The work Johnstone wanted had also been listed as irreparably damaged in the flood. But he spotted a number of large paintings rolled up under a table in the conservation department of the Tate. He had them unrolled, found the Martin and, surprise, the Delaroche - a little damaged but in surprisingly good condition. The work was restored and taken to the National Gallery where once again the vote of popular taste had elevated it to fame.

AT THE GALLERIES

What: Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey
Where & when: National Gallery, London, to May 23
TJ says: A splendid piece of history painting rescued by an Aucklander.

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