Is this the only known portrait of England’s doomed ‘Nine Days Queen’?
Lady Jane Grey, a teenage pawn in the power struggles that plagued the Tudor court, ruled England for just nine days and was later executed for treason. Now, researchers believe they may have identified the only known portrait of the so-called "Nine Days Queen" painted before her death.

Following the death of Edward VI in 1553, unscrupulous politicians propelled the staunchly Protestant young girl to the throne in a bid to prevent her Roman Catholic relative, Mary Tudor, from becoming Queen.
The mysterious portrait, on loan to conservation charity English Heritage from a private collection, shows a young woman clad modestly in a white cap and shawl.

According to English Heritage, it was acquired by Anthony Grey, 11th Earl of Kent, in 1701, as an image of Lady Jane Grey. It remained "the defining image" of England’s shortest reigning monarch until 21st-century art historians questioned its attribution and rejected its identity.

In an attempt to settle the question, kra28 cc English Heritage worked alongside London’s Courtauld Institute of Art and dendrochronologist Ian Tyers to conduct a technical analysis of the piece, its senior collections conservator, Rachel Turnbull, said in a statement published Friday.

A dendrochronological analysis—a scientific method of dating tree rings—of the painting’s panel suggests it was probably used for the artwork between 1539 and around 1571, according to the statement.
The panel, which is made of two Baltic oak boards from two different trees, has a merchant or cargo mark on its back that resembles a mark on a portrait of King Edward VI, Jane’s predecessor on the throne.

Scans using infrared reflectography show significant changes were made to the woman’s outfit and face after the completion of the initial portrait, English Heritage said.

The white scarf around her shoulders is believed to be a later addition.

Bands encircling her right arm under the scarf are thought to be possibly part of a larger decorated sleeve that is now hidden, or a now-gone scarf that was previously draped over her lower arms, like the outfits she is depicted as wearing in portraits painted after her death.