JOHN CALCOTT HORSLEY (BRITISH 1817-1903)
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS IN CAPTIVITY
Signed and indistinctly dated 1871, oil on canvas 
137cm x 185cm (54in x 72.75in)
Sotheby's Gleneagles, Scottish and Sporting Pictures, August 29 2007, lot 2 (sold £45,600)
Exhibited: Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1871, no.193;Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1904, no.132.This painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy with the following caption: 'Mary, at twenty-six years of age, was consigned to the charge of the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, and remained a captive in their custody for nearly sixteen years. There was little love lost between the Countess and her royal prisoner. The former, familiarly known as ‘Bess of Hardwick’, was a woman of strong character and imperious disposition, and at one time she was not free from jealousy as to the effect of the Queen's personal attractions upon her husband the Earl.'