December 19: The Syon Portrait

Today's Tudor treat is the Syon Portrait of an unknown woman which historian Dr. J. Stephan Edwards believes could well be Lady Jane Grey. It is known as the Syon Portrait as it's in the collection at Syon House. Although, in the past, it has been identified as Elizabeth I, Dr Edwards stated, in an interview on the wonderful Lady Jane Grey blog Lady Jane Grey, that "Though the painting is sometimes said to depict Elizabeth I when Princess, I believe the presence of a large cleft in the sitter's chin, and the absence of that cleft in virtually all authentic portraits of Elizabeth, eliminates Elizabeth as the sitter.' His research into the painting has led him to be convinced that it is Lady Jane Grey.

Isn't it lovely?