“Commissioned by the New York businessman Lumen Reed, George Whiting Flagg set out to paint Mary Queen of Scots Preparing for Execution, only to change to Jane when he discovered that Mary was ‘too old at the time of her execution to make an interesting picture‘.“
Mary was 44 when she was beheaded; Jane was 16. And just based on this painting I could not have told you before I read this quote how old the subject was.
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