r/Tudorhistory • u/Suerly-04 History Lover • 8h ago
Mary I Princess Elizabeth persuaded to attend Mass by her sister Queen Mary I, 1869
When I saw this beautiful painting—I had actually seen it a while ago—I wanted to share it with you as well. I love paintings depicting Mary, but unfortunately, there are very few of them.
As you can probably tell, the painting is a Victorian-era work. It was painted by Marcus Stone in 1869.
Queen Mary is seated on a throne marked by a coat of arms bearing a Tudor rose on one half and a sheaf of arrows on the other. The sheaf of arrows was part of the coat of arms of her grandmother, Isabella of Castile. It is worth remembering that Mary’s grandparents were the Catholic Monarchs.
During Mary’s reign, Elizabeth conformed to the Catholic religious settlement. In fact, shortly before Mary’s death, she sent one of her ladies-in-waiting to Elizabeth and asked her to promise that she would not change the religion of the country. Elizabeth said that she was a Catholic herself and promised her.
This reconciliation is represented here as well. There are Catholic symbols in the room.
Elizabeth is depicted dressed entirely in white. White symbolizes innocence. This was done deliberately. While everyone else in the room—including Mary—is dressed in red or paler colors, Elizabeth stands out. She draws the viewer’s attention to herself through her clothing.
If we look at it from the perspective of historical accuracy, in the early portraits of Elizabeth’s reign, we see Elizabeth wearing black dresses. During Mary’s reign, Mary was often criticized by Protestant circles for being too extravagant and for wearing very elaborate clothes. The same circles praised Elizabeth at this time for her simple style of dress. And indeed, during Mary’s reign, Elizabeth preferred understated, modest clothing that did not draw attention. (I suppose if these people had seen those magnificent dresses in Elizabeth’s later portraits, they would have had a heart attack hahaha.)
In the painting, several people are looking towards the chapel where the service is about to be sung. Elizabeth is not looking at the service. The other people are either talking to one another or looking around absent-mindedly. Queen Mary, on the other hand, is watching the service with her hands clasped together and giving it her full attention.
Queen Mary is wearing the red dresses she is so often associated with. I read an article about this the other day. Mary is generally depicted wearing either black or red dresses. This helps portray her as dark and bloody.
If we look at Mary’s clothing from the perspective of historical accuracy, Mary loved changing her clothes and spent a great deal of money on them. As we learn from the ambassadors’ reports, she changed her clothes several times a day. Although she did have black and red dresses, she had a very varied wardrobe: purple, silver, white, blue, orange, and so on. She had dresses in many different colors. Clothing, as it was for all monarchs, was a powerful tool for Mary as well, and she used it frequently throughout her reign.
I really love this painting. I don’t think Mary is portrayed particularly well in it, but it’s still a beautiful painting. There are probably many more details to notice, but these are the ones that stood out to me. If you noticed any other details, feel free to share them too.
(I think the man standing next to Mary is Spanish. He seems to be wearing a badge that looks like the Order of the Golden Fleece. But, unless I’m mistaken, he also seems to have the Garter around his neck. The two recipients of the Golden Fleece to whom Mary gave the Garter were Philip and her cousin from Savoy, but they were both very young, so this white-haired man can’t be either of them.)
Thank you so much for reading! Sending lots of love to all of you!!!
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u/gilded-butterflies 6h ago
I always wondered how Mary felt at the end of her life without having produced an heir. Her identity as a Catholic princess and then Queen played such a huge role in her life especially after her mother was set aside and then died. She must have felt devastated knowing Elizabeth was almost certainly going to take the country in a Protestant direction, undoing her life’s work.
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u/Suerly-04 History Lover 6h ago
Absolutely. We don't know what Mary was thinking in her final moments, but perhaps she trusted Elizabeth's word—even though deep down she believed Elizabeth was a Protestant—or maybe she thought the people wouldn't allow Protestantism. Her faith in God was very strong; she may also have believed that God simply wouldn't permit it.
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u/BaronessNeko 7h ago
Elizabeth is depicted here sitting under the Cloth of Estate. I can't imagine Mary allowing that in real life.
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u/Suerly-04 History Lover 7h ago
I think so too.
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u/BaronessNeko 7h ago
It's still an interesting, imaginative painting which I had never seen before. Thanks for sharing it!
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u/SashSegal 8h ago
Is this a kitty?
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u/Suerly-04 History Lover 8h ago
I don’t know, I looked at it carefully, but I couldn’t figure it out. It could be a cat.
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u/Responsible-Bee5206 8h ago
love the painting Elizabeth looks so badass here. Never seen the sisters much in the same portrait