Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford by Mark Satchwill

I’ve been putting together illustrations for my book on the Woodvilles. Although most of the illustrations will be from contemporary or near-contemporary sources, no contemporary likeness of  the grande dame of the family, Jacquetta, Duchess of Bedford, exists. The chronicler Enguerrand de Monstrelet described her as lively (frisque), beautiful, and gracious, but otherwise there’s no guidance as to what she looked like.

With that in mind, I thought it would be neat to have a modern artist, Mark Satchwill, supply me with his own imagined portrait of Jacquetta.  The only guidance I gave was that there should be some family resemblance to Elizabeth Woodville and that the drawing should portray Jacquetta as a young woman–about the time she secretly married Richard Woodville. You can see the finished product a little closer to my publication date in October, but here in the meantime is a pencil sketch:

Mark previously did a drawing of Margaret of Anjou for me, and much as I loved it, I think I love the one of Jacquetta even better! You can see some of Mark’s other work on his Facebook page, on his blog, and on his website.