Mary Queen of Scots.

Audio  • Season 1 • Episode 7  • Mary Queen of Scots.

Audio • Season 1 • Episode 7 Mary Queen of Scots

The Artwork is A Miniature of Mary Queen of Scots. c 1559 by François Clouet.

This exquisite miniature is related to a drawing by the artist François Clouet, held in the Bibliothèque nationale de France Paris, likely dated slightly earlier to 1555. Her clothing is updated in the miniature, particularly the detail of the ruff in the drawing, which is changed into an open-standing collar.

The original drawing is only bust-length, whereas the miniature includes the sitter's hands, indicating their significance to the portrait's function. The gesture of placing a ring on the fourth finger of her right hand is thought to allude to Mary Queen of Scots’ marriage to the French Dauphin, the future Francis the Second, in 1558.

This portrait was commissioned by the French royal family from their court artist to commemorate the royal marriage. The size and details of the miniature are: A watercolour, 8.3 x 5.7 cm, on a canvas panel stretcher.

The miniature was almost certainly Queen Elizabeth I's personal possession and would later become part of the Royal Collection.

The Royal Collection of the British Royal Family is the most extensive private art collection in the world. It is held in trust by The King, as Sovereign, for his successors and the nation. He does not own it as a private individual. The Collection was formed mainly after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. Following Charles I's execution in 1649, most of the King's possessions were sold by order of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell.

The Music is Alas Madame. French, Bayeux Manuscript (English: Alas my Lady)

The Bayeux Manuscript is an illustrated manuscript that contains one hundred and three songs, and was compiled by Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, in the early 16th century. These songs were composed in the late 15th century, shortly after the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War. The manuscript is housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.

Some contents of the episode are:

The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion.

The Convocation of 1563.

The second part of the Vestiarian Controversy.

Foxe's Book of Martyrs.