“Deconstructing Delaroche: An Analysis of The Execution of Lady Jane Grey”

Publication Date

2026

Presentation Length

15 minutes

College

Watkins College of Art

Department

Art, Department of

Student Level

Undergraduate

Faculty Mentor

Tom Williams

Metadata/Fulltext

Metadata ONLY

Presentation Type

Talk/Oral

Summary

The female subject of a painting holds the power to progress a narrative, generating a unique dynamic between social and historical contexts, especially within the Paris Salons of the 1800s. Paul Delaroche’s The Execution of Lady Jane Grey of 1833 depicts the final moments of the queen before her execution. The oil painting serves as a historical narrative, but also reveals the tastes of 1830s Paris Salons through French theatricality, captivating audiences with its melodrama and realism. Since its debut in the Paris Salon of 1834, its misplacement, rediscovery in 1973, and re-exhibition in 2010, Delaroche’s painting stands in the National Gallery of London as a testament to its enduring emotional appeal. This presentation explains how the work’s methodologies of formalist analysis, iconography, social history, and gender work in unison to embody the ill-fated queen that attracted so many viewers at its Salon.

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