Hertogen van Northumberland en Suffolk vragen Lady Jane Grey de kroon te aanvaarden Possibly 1786

Curator: Here we have "The Dukes of Northumberland and Suffolk praying Lady Jane Grey to accept the Crown," a print by Francesco Bartolozzi, likely from 1786. It's rendered in delicate engraving. Editor: It has a decidedly sepia wash, as if viewed through time itself, but beneath the romantic antique feel I sense a heavy hand, pushing… Curator: Towards what, in your estimation? Bartolozzi depicts the young Lady Jane Grey being pressured by noblemen to take the throne, so perhaps… ambition? Editor: No, not ambition per se; a sense of obligation! Consider the means: look at how Bartolozzi created this scene – a copper plate meticulously carved by hand! Each line demanded labor. Each shadow meticulously placed using specific tools. Those tools in turn were wrought from forges… What seems to be represented here is not just one's perceived place, but how it is forced on the figure through these very specific chains. Curator: Chains indeed. The scene possesses a striking tension. She’s almost recoiling, isn’t she? Observe how the crown, physically present, almost hangs, suspended, yet bearing such a symbolic weight. It almost floats precariously, like her claim to the throne. And consider the supplicants... their very bodies seem to lean into her refusal. Editor: And consider what we cannot see: The paper itself! It started as linen scraps pulped to almost nothing by millworkers; an unseen part of the process transformed into something precious, something historic, here etched in lines. It serves, ironically, as both record and commodity. Curator: Indeed, we must recall this wasn’t a singular creation but a print, made for circulation, for a broader audience… It mirrors the propaganda inherent in Lady Jane’s brief and contested reign. A fleeting figure molded into legend. Editor: Consider all of the labor—both the Duke's scheming, and the engraver’s craft! Both made and making, the paper now worn… So too did the ‘Nine Day Queen’ likely felt trapped by forces outside herself… pressed onto a stage she had never asked for and ultimately crushed. Curator: Beautifully put. It's as though Bartolozzi unwittingly etched her tragedy not only into the scene but, on a symbolic level, within the very print itself. Editor: Perhaps unintentionally, indeed. One starts to wonder about what it all implies about systems as a whole. Food for thought as one continues this visit!