X-RAY FINDS A QUEEN
A research project by the National Galleries of Scotland and the Courtauld Institute of Art has revealed a hitherto unknown and unfinished portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots.
The image lies beneath one, dating from 1589, by Adrian Vanson, of the Lord Chancellor of Scotland Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane.
It was revealed during X-ray analysis of the topmost image by Dr Caroline Rae, who was conducting comparative research into the work of portraitists Vanson and Adam de Colone.
An NGS press release explains
The X-radiograph revealed the presence of lead white depicting a woman’s face and the outline of her dress and hat beneath the upper layers of paint.
Dr Rae was able to trace the outline of a woman, whose appearance indicates she is likely to be Mary, Queen of Scots, based on distinct similarities to other depictions of the controversial queen made during her lifetime, and in particular during her later years. The face of the sitter for instance shows a strong resemblance to two miniatures by the famous English miniaturist Nicholas Hilliard (1547–1619), kept in the Royal Collection and the V&A Museum collection. Other clues, like the sitter’s pose with her head tilted to the side and her hand at her waist with her fingers positioned as if holding something, the wired cap and square-necked gown, also accord with other portraits of Mary, including a work hanging at Blair Castle, Perthshire.
The painting normally hangs at the National Trust’s Ham House near London. David Taylor, Curator of Pictures and Sculpture at the National Trust said: ‘Vanson’s portrait of Sir John Maitland is an important picture in the National Trust collection, and the remarkable discovery of the unfinished portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots adds an exciting hidden dimension to it.
'It shows that portraits of the queen were being copied and presumably displayed in Scotland around the time of her execution [1587], a highly contentious and potentially dangerous thing to be seen doing.’
The portrait and ‘ghostly image’ will be on display at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (1 Queen Street) as part of the exhibition ‘Art and Analysis: Two Netherlandish Painters Working in Jacobean Scotland’, from 28 October 2017 to 26 January 2020.
[Image top-right: Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane (1589), copyright National Trust Images.]