En Deuil Blanc Portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87)

English School
‘En Deuil Blanc’ Portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87)
Oil-on-panel
14 x 10 in.
c.1600

Provenance

Christie’s, South Kensington, November, 2011;
Private collection, United Kingdom;
Whiteman’s Fine Art, acquired from the above, 2025.

Note

Mary Queen of Scots was destined to be a royal martyr for Catholics, Scots, and the House of Stuart. One of Britain’s most iconic historical figures of whom portrayals abound from every century since her execution in 1587, Mary would herself presciently write ‘in the end is my beginning.’ The famous ‘en deuil blanc’ (in white mourning) portrait-type, of which the present work numbers, was first painted by the French court artist, François Clouet, in c.1560-1 when the queen wore white mourning dress in the French fashion following the deaths of her father-in-law, Henri II of France, her French mother, Mary of Guise, in Scotland, and finally her husband King François II [1]. Although this finely modelled portrait may have been painted during the Queen’s lifetime, this powerful image critically seemed to many in hindsight to capture the tragedy which later befell her. It is probably therefore an exceptionally rare survival of the en deuil blanc painted in the wake of her execution by the English Crown. With the Scottish Lion Rampant quartered with the fleur-de-lis prominently blazoned, the portrait may be placed within Mary’s extraordinary visual hagiography as an important early example.

The portrait is executed in the lively Tudor tradition epitomised by William Scrots and worked by native artists, with which not only the style but the relatively small size of the panel and tight craquelure (particularly notable in the face), as well as the subtle underdrawings revealed by infra-red photography, are consistent [2]. We are grateful to Dr. Adam Busiakiewicz (Consultant for Old Master Paintings, Sotheby’s) for his analysis, confirming that the sitter of the portrait is Mary, Queen of Scots, based upon the prototype in the Royal Collection, and that the portrait dates to the close of the sixteenth century and was thus poignantly painted during the reign of Mary’s first cousin and final sentencer, Elizabeth I [3].

[1] RCIN 403429 (Mary, Queen of Scots' Bedchamber, Palace of Holyroodhouse).

[2] This is in contradistinction to the often large and romantic later works that did much to familiarise her likeness. The dearth of sixteenth century portraits which certainly depict Mary Queen of Scots outside of institutional collections is notable, the last example being acquired by Hever Castle in 2019.

[3] Ian Tyres (Dedrochronolgoical Consultancy Limited), the scientific authority on panel supports, has been consulted regarding the portrait (28.7.2025). Despite its evident antiquity Tyres concluded the panel cannot be subjected to dendrochronological analysis due to the occlusion of tree rings caused by the wood being ‘very fast grown’ / ‘cut at an acute tangential angle.’