Mary, Queen of Scots is one of the most famous women in Scottish history. Today we’ll guide you through her fascinating life, and then at the end we’ll bring you face to face with Mary by revealing our reconstructions of her death mask.
Mary Stuart was born on December 8th, 1542 at Linlithgow Palace, about 15 miles outside of Edinburgh, Scotland. She was the child of James V, the current King of Scotland. At the time of her birth, Mary was one of the most noble women in Europe. On the day Mary was born, her father was away - battling English forces only a few days before at Solway Moss, where he had recently been injured. He would never meet his new daughter. 6 days after her birth, King James V of Scotland died…and with no other heirs, Mary was now destined to become the Queen of the Scots.
She moved to France in 1548, where she married the young Dauphin Francis. She was immediately adored at the French court, and had an optimistic future ahead of her. But suddenly on December 5th 1560, King Francis II died. In August of 1561, Mary left the sunny countryside of France, and returned to a melancholy Scotland.
Her time back in Scotland began the war between two cousins: Mary, and her English cousin, Queen Elizabeth I. Their power struggle eventually led to Mary being imprisoned for 19 years. She ultimately plotted against Elizabeth from inside her prison cell, and was found out. She was executed on the orders of Elizabeth I in 1587.
It was said that soon after her execution and the time her casket would have been sealed at burial, that four death masks were cast from Mary’s face.
One is called the Lennoxlove Mask, kept safe by the Duke of Hamilton at his estate for over 250 years, along with personal items of Mary’s. This mask shows the Queen looking young and serene, with hardly any trace of her harsh imprisonment showing on her face, eyebrows and eyelashes later attached.
It’s interesting just how young she looks, especially given that she would have been in her mid-forties and lived a harsh life for much of it. But, as we know she had always been described as an exceptionally beautiful woman. We don’t have any contemporary portraits past the time of her imprisonment, when she would have just been in her mid twenties, so it’s hard to tell how she aged. The last reliable portrait was made after her death, so while it wasn’t taken from life, it was supervised by one of her ladies who would have known how she looked.
Another mask, called the Jedburgh mask was also made. At some point in its history, makeup was added. And the other two masks that were reported have since been lost to history.
Now, there is some doubt around the authenticity of the masks, since records for each are spotty. But when we compare the masks to each other, and then to her portraits, the proportions of her face match up very well. Clearly her portraits show some common stylizations from the 16th century, noticeably the tiny lips. I think the death masks portray a truly lifelike Queen, more in line with the descriptions of her charisma and beauty.
