This Painfully Beautiful Painting Will Make You Uncomfortable 

Hi. Have you ever made a video about Spolarium by Juan Luna?

Back then 17 was like being 30+ years nowadays

I just love your voice!

I thought she was married to cyclops

I know early engagements were common then but 3-4 years before conception seemed a bit of a stretch…

It's a painting created 300 years after the Tudor period. The artist was bringing his own sensibility and values into the composition.

@@RichardParker2008 It's well-documented from writings of the period people did not see the need for this girl's execution and saw their new Queen Mary as brutal for demanding it.

@@RichardParker2008 ​ @RichardParker2008 Yes of course, but as another user said, there was sympathy for Jane Grey at her time, and she was gently helped to the block, in stark, depressing contrast to how she was abused my her own parents. Another incident that stuck with me is Anne Boleyn's execution, when the swordsman pretended to call for his sword so she thought she had a few more moments to live, when he actually had it in his hands and did the deed with one quick strike while she was unaware. A small mercy, but more than her own husband gave her

You mean empathetic?

@@junepassingthrouthegate8810 probably, sorry english isn't my first language

Actually, she saw it as her duty, and Mary tried to convince her to renounce her cause and accept Catholic rule, and she refused knowing that it would leave Mary no choice but to execute her. People need to stop robbing her of her agency. She was very brave and stoic, and should not be looked upon with pity.

@@ANPC-pi9vu Well said. Jane was a pawn, but she also chose her path to a certain extent. She could have chosen to publicly accepted Catholicism and lived as a Catholic. It is what Elizabeth did, although Elizabeth had her own ways of dealing with treading the line. I get Jane did not believe in the teachings of Catholicism, but I also think Elizabeth was on the right track in say there is one Lord Jesus Christ, one faith and the rest is a dispute over trifles. However, I respect Jane felt she could not do that, and did not renounce her beliefs.

Ryouko. She did commit treason. Parliament gave Henry VIII the legal power to determine the succession, not Edward VI. Without an act of Parliament Edward VI could not declare Jane his successor. Her taking on the title of Queen of England and signing herself Queen was illegal.So she committed the crime of treason. She admitted as much on the scaffold, even though she was not the instigator of the treason It was also the reason Mary did not execute her straight away. Had her father not got involved in another rebellion against Mary, then it likely Mary would not have executed her. But that is the problem- once you commit treason you open yourself to peril when others act on your behalf later. I think she is a tragic figure, but she also was not totally innocent.

If her ambitious parents had the son her mother in particular wanted so badly...and that son had lived...or if Edward had lived to a healthy adulthood, Jane might have had a much happier life. They only focused on her because there was no male to pin their hopes on. And as a woman, family duty and obedience was seen as her only option. Sad. Sex has been the justification for a great deal of injustice throughout human history.

@@brontewcat well if you brought Queen Elizabeth’s time then that Jane was probably Diana…

I'm pretty sure it's the leggings.

Lady Jane Grey was very well educated and much more adult than one would have expected. Horrible Histories the BBC kids' TV show did a funny sketch about the poor girl, but anyone who knows her story can only be moved by it.

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​@@thedativecase9733 💯 !;

Beats what the commoners got. Compared to Tyburn, the axe and sword were a mercy.

@@als3022 i think it's moreso the circumstances as to how she got beheaded that make it chilling bc it was unnecessary and sad

Mary Tudor didn't get the nickname "Bloody Mary” for nothing. And this was only the beginning of her reign!

@@silvergust It wasn't unnecessary, even though it was tragic. Mary did not want to execute her but could not persuade the pious Jayne to disavow her cause as she believes it was her duty as a Protestant. Likewise, Mary was the protector of the Catholic church, trying to put down the Protestant uprisings and resenting what her father had done. They both had respectable reasons for their positions, so her only option was to put Jayne to death.

@@myriamickx7969 You are overlooking the fact that Protestants had been burning down Cathedrals all across the kingdom. Mary was doing what she must as a devout Catholic of her station in that time and place.

He was not like that at first. He was a beautiful and respected young man who, during many contests fell from his horse and received multiple head injuries. It seems that brain trauma impaired his judgement and self co trol.

But Elizabeth I was a good ruler though. I think Mary I was that way because of how Henry treated her. He didn't even allow her to come to her mother's funeral

@@k.999 Unless you refused to convert to the new Church of England and wanted to remain Catholic. And watched your life erode or end up executed because her father wanted to bone someone new. Elizabeth is one of those glossed over individuals who gets praise for a Golden Age. A Golden Age because of luck with the weather and calling all those she executed traitors rather than religious opponents. Except for Henry VII, the entire Tudor line deserves the moniker "Bloody" Especially Henry VIII Mary when you study her is much more depressing than Bloody. A sad depressing story of a woman trying to continue her dynasty and get what she felt her suffering owed.

@@als3022 I guess that's true, she and her mother went through a lot

@@als3022 I'd also wager the anti-catholic sentiment of the Elizabethan Anglicans was due to the shitstorm that Mary put non-Catholics(seeing as both Protestants and Anglicans were the targets) through So, not fully the workings of Lizzy, pretty sure a chunk of Anglicans and Protestants wanted retribution

where is the painting being kept ?

It's in the National Gallery in London

How big is it? What further thoughts and emotions did it give you. I can get the dims from Google by I prefer the person's view point.

It is a very large painting which makes the figures feel almost life sized. Mind you, I was a child when I saw it , so it may have just seemed life sized! The rendering of the fabric is just so exquisite.

@@Montevideo2313 huge. Wall of gallery filling huge. Which makes the darkness seem bigger and claustrophobic.

It wasn't insane or power hungry motivation that led to her execution.

There's a lot of art about murdered innocents, trust me, this one is special.

They are spying and listening. Cover your phones and your audio with tape. Its crazy.

It's amazing how much more striking art (and many other things) can be when seen in person. And they're pretty striking in photos already. I remember being impressed that way by the Annunciation Triptych (Merode Altarpiece) at the Cloisters Museum in NYC. It took my breath away.

yes it was listening.

17 was young even during the middle ages. The average life span was about 30, but only because so many children died in their first few years. Those who survived these early years could reach 60 or more.

Mary wasn't crazy. She was, like every king before her since the war of the roses started, trying to prevent rebels from using a royal personage as a rallying point by killing them. See literally every ruler in the war of the roses.

They were two factions in a religious war. People only think Mary was crazy because her side lost. If you look into it more, she had honorable reasons for her actions.

@@ANPC-pi9vu She literally burned people alive for not being Catholic. She was called Bloody Mary by people.

@@ashmeadowphoenix Mary 1 was no more or less brutal than many monarchs of the time. However, most monarchs at the time would have gone the assassination route if they needed to. Because Mary was a woman her claim to the throne was much more unstable, especially since her brother names Jane his successor, giving her a strong claim. The tragedy is that Jane wanted nothing to do with any of it. The poor girl was a victim of other people's power politics and it cost her life through no fault or action of her own.

I think it does her memory a terrible disservice when you rob her of agency and see her only as a victim. She was a very devout Protestant who saw the attempt at taking the throne as her duty. Mary tried to spare her on the condition that she accept Catholic rule and renounce her cause. Jayne refused and faced death with dignity and grace. She's a tragic figure, but also a heroic one. Likewise Mary was trying to put down the rebellion and restore the Catholic church her father had only instated Protestantism as a political maneuver to take his mistress as his wife and dispatch the Catholics who sided with his wife at the time. The Protestants were also not peaceful victims in all this. It was all out sectarian warfare and they had been burning the Kingdom's great Cathedrals. Mary as a Catholic heir to the throne was doing her duty to her nation and faith just as Jayne was, and really, I think that is so much more compelling than the childish narrative depicting one as a hapless victim and the other as a bloodthirsty villain.

I used to see it as that too, but then remember so many monarchs before and after Mary had to do the same. Maybe had Jane's father not taken up another rebellion, Mary would have spared Jane and her husband. But it just made Mary see that she could kill all the rebels for Jane's cause, but with Jane gone there was no need for a rebellion. It makes sense in the long run.

Fr

I love the editing and the jokes

She's really become a good narrator, hasn't she?

@@JOHNDOINK21 p

Wow! That is so amazing to hear coming from an expert such as yourself! Thank you so much for watching the videos and supporting the channel 😊

@@th_sm_shi Because that’s how much I paid

@@mckinleygrimes9593 paid for what?

@@mi-no3wk probably donated

@@th_sm_shi probably donated

Yes, Henry VIII was a psychopath who terrorized his own wives, daughters & loyal friends. We could go on for quite awhile about the horror that he perpetuated against his country & family.

Well said. She’s very mis understood. If Jane Grays father had succeeded with his rebellion it would have been Mary on the block. She was in a similar position to her sister Elizabeth when she executed Mary Queen of Scots. Rival factions would have used Jane as a rallying point. Jane was a very passionate Protestant who was keen on destroying any Catholic power.

Truth must be spoken Those sisters were put in the position of being fam by fam becoming enemies. When TREAT to the THRONE is damaging the Sys, you must ACT. TREASON is always DEATH into the Kingdom, and yes, in these days THE INNOCENTS pay their BLOOD for the SINNERS.

Mary Tudor was treated horribly as a child, watching her father toss her mother aside for a younger woman, then forced to be a servant to Anne. Mary must have witnessed much bloodier acts than any attributed to her. When she was Queen- it was a kill or be killed situation. It is typical that any woman trying to keep order like a man would (still is) be called a murderer, a tyrant, hysterical and my favorite- a cold bitch. I consider being called a cold bitch a great compliment- it means I am doing the right thing and am making certain hideous men with power very, very nervous. Have you ever checked out Erzebet Bathory's story? Supposedly she murdered hundreds of virgin girls and bathed in their blood because she was so vain, etc, etc. That story is total bunk, too. Ms. Bathory owned a third of Hungary, her and her husband had their own army, even the king owed them a great deal of money. After her husband died, her husband's friend devised a sick story to force her to give up all of her land to him and be imprisoned. History is many times written to favor certain people- usually for profit.

100%

This makes me so happy, you don't even know!

Yes me too! Ever since I've found this channel I've been able to appreciate art like this and I'm so glad I did. Because it's actually so interesting and I didn't know!

I subbed to the cnannel after randomly finding a single video, and I intend to go back and listen to the older ones. Such a great mix of history, art history, just with a touch of humour. It's just captivating from start to finish.

Right!!!

Oh, you remind me of my College Subject.

I can’t even imagine the pain of seeing your older sister forced into a position that gets her executed. No wonder they both ran away.

Perhaps the realization of the eventual fate of feminine beauty and ideals, had also hit you. It would be a powerful thing to see, at that pivotal age.

You and I have almost identical stories about this painting. It's phenomenal. I can sit in front of it for hours.

I’ve just posted a near identical post and now I see yours. I too was in London and around the same age. So nice to see a shared experience at such young ages.

I agree, always had seen the artist's decision with flowing hair as premonition of blood stream. Dark and grim accent, but so suitable for this scene.

Museum - or Art Gallery?

Same!!! If this channel existed when I was in college I wouldn’t have had to repeat my humanities classes. She makes art interesting.

I agree. I had the same experience when I saw this painting. Utterly haunting.

Patrick Stewart said that this was the movie he was the most proud of.

Lady Jane is almost life-size in the actual painting. Everyone was very quiet around it.

Excellent comment. Really enjoyed reading it 👍

😍😂

The gallery has sited a bench opposite the painting for others who are spellbound by it.