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Hello, my name is Safirah. Penina and I have been researching the *** mystery of The
Princes in the Tower. The painting was by Hippolyte (Paul) Delaroche in 1830. Penina
will be talking to Senior Curator, Stephen Duffy, who will be revealing the dark secrets of the story.
What is the story behind this painting?
Well it's 1483, we're in the Tower of London. Here you see two boys,
on the left the Duke of York, who is 11 years old.
On the right is his elder brother, who is only 13, Edward V.
by their uncle, who will soon be crowned Richard III. Of course they will soon disappear, some
people believe they were murdered on the orders of Richard III, while some people question
this. It is a great historical uncertainty. What is clear is that the painter of this
picture, Paul Delaroche in 1831, believed that they were murdered by Richard III.
So too did Shakespeare and this is a painting derived from Shakespeare's play Richard III.
Why do you think there is a glowing shadow of footsteps coming from beneath the door?
Shakespeare believed, and this is the story, that they will be suffocated by two men
Dighton and Forrest, who are acting for their uncle, Richard III.
Clearly Delaroche is indicating here the approach of those assassins
Does it look like the two boys are crying?
I don't know if they are crying but they certainly seem watery-eyed
They seem to sense their fate
or at least they are aware that they are in great danger.
What do you think happened to the Princes?
I don't know and I wouldn't like to get too involved,
The point for this painting is that Delaroche accepts Shakespeare's story
Why do you think this painter from the nineteenth-century chose to paint this?
In 1830 when Delaroche painted it, no French person when thinking about the death of these
English princes in the 15th century in the Tower of London in mysterious circumstances,
could fail to think of the young, uncrowned Louis XVII who also died in mysterious circumstances.
He was the son of the executed Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. He died in unknown circumstances
in La Conciergerie in Paris, during the French Revolution.
Delaroche refers to that in this picture.
It is not just a scene from English history that he has taken by chance.
Thank you
So the mystery continues, if you would like to see this painting and many others then
please come down to the Wallace Collection. Keep watching for the next podcast.
Keep watching for the next podcast.