This painting shows the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots at Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire on 8 February 1587. Wearing widow's clothes and a white veil, she walks towards the executioner's block. The light captures the serenity and courage of her expression. She is watched with mixed emotions by some of her followers and enemies. The two ladies at the foot of the stage are her attendants Elizabeth Curle and Jane Kennedy, the man between them is Sir Andrew Melville, Master of Mary's household. In the Victorian period there was a great vogue for Scottish things. Herdman has deliberately glamorized the past by presenting the ageing Mary as a young and beautiful woman, the innocent victim of political intrigue. She has become a romantic heroine and is shown as a saintly figure.