Lady Jane Grey
1681
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 24.8 × 16.5 cm (9 3/4 × 6 1/2 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1951.11.843
Art Historical Context
This engraving by Robert White, created in 1681, presents a portrait of Lady Jane Grey, the young noblewoman briefly proclaimed queen of England in 1553 before her execution at age sixteen. Working in the medium of engraving, White captured her likeness more than a century after her death, transforming a historical figure into a subject of enduring public fascination. The print’s modest dimensions—roughly the size of a sheet of paper—made it well suited for circulation among collectors and scholars. Engravings like this one played a vital role in 17th-century visual culture, allowing detailed...
About the Artist
Robert White · 1645–1703
Robert White was a British engraver and draughtsman born in London in 1645, who became one of the most accomplished portrait engravers working in England during the latter decades of the seventeenth century. He trained under David Loggan, the Polish-born engraver who was among the dominant figures of portrait printmaking in Restoration England, and from Loggan he acquired both the technical master...