A native of Hereford, Lucy studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under Delaroche and later at the RA Schools. He exhibited widely in London, making his name with subjects from English history, and won three prizes at the Westminster Hall competitions in the 1840s. At that time he was living at Tudor Lodge, Camden Town, and working closely with Ford Madox Brown, in whose diary he often features. About 1857 he returned to France, settling at Barbizon for the rest of his life.

The present example was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1868, when the Art Journal wrote patronisingly: 'The painter has made a tremendous and praiseworthy effort to do his best ... We commend the work according to its merits to the favourable notice of our readers.' The picture belongs to a long tradition of subjects from the life of Mary, Queen of Scots in British painting, some of which were included in the exhibition The Queen's Image held at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in 1987. This very subject, for instance, was also treated by Gavin Hamilton and W.B. Collier Fyfe (1987 exh., no.53 and cat. p.66, fig.14). However in view of Lucy's close connection with Ford Madox Brown, perhaps the most significant comparison here is with Brown's Execution of Mary Queen of Scots, a major early work of 1840-1 (now lost; oil sketch in Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester).

Lucy's studio sale was held at Christie's in March 1875, and two attractive genre subjects were sold in these Rooms, on 25 November 1988, lots 158-9.