Why was the painting "The Execution of Lady Jane Gray" once thought to have been destroyed?

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, which will also be included in the exhibition at Britain's National Gallery, was once thought to have been destroyed. It was thought lost in a Thames flood which swept through the National Gallery's Millbank home in January 1930, only to be rediscovered in a storage tube 43 years later. The exhibition, Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey, aims to examine the wider work of the Frenchman. He painted traumatic episodes from British history as an allegory for the French Revolution, which in the early 19th century was considered too recent to represent directly. Painting History: Delaroche and Lady Jane Grey opens on 24 February 2010 and runs until 23 May 2010. Sources: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/6643856/National-Gallery-to-unveil-Blitz-damaged-masterpiece.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/6643856/National-Gallery-to-unveil-Blitz-damaged-masterpiece.  more

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is an oil painting by Paul Delaroche completed in 1833. It is currently housed in the National Gallery in London. The painting portrays, erroneously in some regards, the moments preceding the death of Lady Jane Grey, who, on July 10, 1553 was proclaimed Queen of England, only to be deposed less than two weeks later and executed in 1554. Jane is sometimes known as the "Nine Days' Queen" or the "Thirteen Days' Queen" due to the brevity of her reign. Lady Jane Grey was the niece of Henry VIII of England and cousin to his son, the short-lived Edward VI. After the latter's death she was proclaimed queen, being given precedence over Henry's daughters, Mary Tudor and Elizabeth. Two weeks after the death of her brother, Mary, who had the support of the English people, claimed the throne, which Jane relinquished, having reigned for only nine days. Jane, her husband Lord Guilford Dudley, and her father, were imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of high ...  more

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey is an oil painting by Paul Delaroche completed in 1833. It is currently housed in the National Gallery in London. The painting portrays, erroneously in some regards, the moments preceding the death of Lady Jane Grey, who, on July 10, 1553 was proclaimed Queen of England, only to be deposed less than two weeks later and executed in 1554. Jane is sometimes known as the "Nine Days' Queen" or the "Thirteen Days' Queen" due to the brevity of her reign.[1] Sources: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Execution_of_Lady_Jane_Grey">http://en.wikipedia.  more