Mary, Queen of Scots, with Her Son, James
19th century
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View on museum website →Medium
Oil on slate
Dimensions
8 7/8 x 7 3/4 in. (22.5 x 19.7 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917
Accession Number
17.190.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 19th-century oil on slate depicts Mary, Queen of Scots, tenderly holding her young son, James, the future James VI of Scotland and I of England. Created by an anonymous British painter, the intimate 8⅞ × 7¾-inch work captures a rare moment of maternal affection amid Mary's tumultuous life, marked by political intrigue, imprisonment, and execution in 1587. Though not a contemporary portrait—likely an imaginative Victorian-era tribute—it reflects the era's Romantic fascination with tragic royal figures, evoking empathy for Mary's personal sacrifices. The choice of slate as a suppo...