Anne Boleyn Portraits – Which is the True Face of Anne Boleyn?
Posted By Claire on August 19, 2010
Part of what fascinates me about Anne Boleyn is the mystery that surrounds her. We do not even know, definitively, what she looked like and can only go on contemporary descriptions and portraiture. The problem with portraits of Anne Boleyn is that they are all so different and none are thought to be contemporary, but, instead, are thought to be later copies of earlier works, which were destroyed when Anne fell from power, or to have been painted during Elizabeth I’s reign. We are left asking “what did Anne Boleyn look like?” and which portrait shows the true Anne Boleyn?
If you compare the National Portrait Gallery iconic portrait to the sketches by Holbein and the miniature by Lucas Horenbolte, they look like three very different women.
The 4 Faces of Anne Boleyn
(Click here to see a high resolution copy of this image.)
The first three show a rather plain woman with a double chin and rather unfashionable attire, yet the final portrait shows a stylish and attractive young woman – surely they can’t all be Anne Boleyn!
Argument for Holbein’s Sketch
In their article “An old tradition reasserted: Holbein’s portrait of Queen Anne Boleyn”, John Rowlands and David Starkey argue that the chalk drawing by Hans Holbein, inscribed “Anna Bollein Queen” (see below), is the true face of Anne Boleyn. Rowlands and Starkey state that although this sketch has been rejected in the past by the likes of K T Parker, who argued that “the features show . .. no resemblance whatever with the well authenticated drawing of Anne Boleyn in Lord Bradford’s possession” (see the first image in “The 4 Faces of Anne Boleyn picture), the Holbein drawing could be Anne because:-
The Windsor Castle Holbein drawing
- It matches some contemporary descriptions of Anne Boleyn, e.g. a French account of Anne’s entry into London on the 31st May 1533 (her coronation) described her as scrofulous (scrofula is s form of tuberculosis affecting the lymph nodes, especially of the neck) and wearing a dress which was fastened high up on the throat to hide this swelling. Starkey and Rowlands note that “in the drawing her double chin is so pronounced as to suggest such a swelling of the throat glands, which is indeed partly hidden by a high neckline.”
- The sitter’s dress – Rowlands and Starkey note that the sitter is in a state of undress and is just wearing a chemise with a furred nightgown and an undercap. They believe that “only a woman of the very highest rank could have taken such a liberty in court circles” and that it speaks of the “royalty” of the sitter.
- The inscription “Anna Bollein Queen” – They state that, according to the Lumley Inventory, this inscription was “subscribed” by Sir John Cheke, Edward VI’s tutor and friend of William Butts, Henry VIII’s physician and a man whose patron was Anne Boleyn. Rowlands and Starkey write “Cheke must have known Anne, and most of
those he lived and worked with at court would have known her too. Of all the identifications he made it seems inconceivable that he could have been mistaken about this one.” - Anne Boleyn’s connection with Holbein – Hans Holbein designed montages for Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession in 1533, he designed jewellery in which the King’s and Anne’s initials are combined, and together with Cornelius Heyss (the King’s goldsmith) he created a cradle for the King and Queen in 1533 for the baby that Anne was expecting in the September, the longed for boy who turned out to be a girl. Rowlands and Starkey argue that although Holbein only received full royal recognition after Anne’s fall in 1536, “his appointment as the King’s Painter probably antedates it. And the likely responsibility rests with Anne Boleyn herself.” It is likely therefore that the sketch IS of Anne Boleyn.
Arguments Against Holbein’s Sketch
In his article “A Reassessment of Queen Anne Boleyn’s Portraiture”, Roland Hui argues that “it seems unlikely that Anne with her much commented upon sense of style would have permitted to be depicted as such” and that “to believe that Anne was goitrous (not to mention deformed by a large wart says the writer), one would also have to accept the ridiculous fiction that at her crowning she also wore a dress covered with a sinister motif of tongues pierced with nails ‘to show the treatment which those who spoke against her might expect.’ ” I have to agree with Hui, I cannot believe that a man like Henry VIII would wait 7 years and break with Rome for the woman pictured in that chalk sketch. I know that Anne was not a classic beauty but she was known for her magnetism and her style, which is sadly lacking in that sketch.
In “The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn”, Eric Ives points out that Sir John Cheke, who was said to have identified the sketch as Anne Boleyn, was incorrect in several of his identifications of other portraits, so “the Cheke story is suspect”. Ives also argues against the British museum Holbein sketch and the chalk drawing being Anne Boleyn because the portrait medal of 1534, the only contemporary likeness of Anne Boleyn, shows a long and oval face with high cheekbones, features that just aren’t there in the sketches. Ives concludes that “judged by the medal, Anne sat for neither of the Holbein drawings.” Roland Hui also points out that we know that Anne was dark haired but the first sketch is of a blonde woman.
Roy Strong’s Anne Boleyn
Roy Strong, the eminent art historian, has suggested that the Lucas Horenbolte (Horenboute) miniature of an Unknown Woman c1526/1527 is Anne Boleyn because the appearance of the woman is “perfectly compatible” with the Anne Boleyn seen in the National Portrait Gallery painting. However, Roland Hui argues that “it is difficult to reconcile the two likenesses – the NPG type of Anne with her long face and high cheekbones versus Horenbolte’s lady with her broader features and double chin” and suggests that the sitter may, in fact, be Mary Boleyn. Eric Ives also dismisses Strong’s theory, arguing that the image is unlike that of the Elizabeth I locket ring and that miniatures of that time were usually limited to royal persons and Anne was not royal at this time.
The Horenbolte miniature and the NPG portrait
The Nidd Hall Anne Boleyn
The Nidd Hall Portrait
The Nidd Hall portrait showing a woman similar to Holbein’s Jane Seymour but with an AB brooch has been identified as “The Most Excellent Princesse Anne Boleyn” but Roland Hui argues that her likeness has been derived from Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour. He notes that a variant of this portrait, an engraving by Renold Elstrack, showed the sitter with a squared jeweled tablet rather than an AB brooch, and that “the facial features found in the engraving and in the Nidd Hall picture are actually more in line with the Whitehall Jane’s than those of the NPG Anne.”
If you hid the AB brooch and showed the portrait to a Tudor history fan and asked them who it was, I’m pretty sure they’d identify it as Jane Seymour, so I have to agree with Hui who concludes that Elstrack based his engraving on a Nidd Hall type panel which had been misidentified as Jane. He also wonders if a demand fro Anne Boleyn images in Elizabeth I’s reign led to images of Jane Seymour, of whom there were many likenesses, being relabelled as Anne.
Eric Ives and the Real Anne Boleyn
In “The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn”, Eriv Ives writes of how there is “a resolution of this pictorial game of ‘find the lady’ ” and that the key to it is the Chequers locket ring which belonged to Elizabeth I. This ring contains two enamel portraits – one of Elizabeth and one of her mother, Anne Boleyn – and Ives writes of how “the face mask is quite clearly that of the sitter in the Hever and National Portrait Gallery paintings.” Ives goes on to say that both the Chequers enamel and the 1534 portrait medal show a woman with a “long oval face, high cheek-bones, strong nose and a decided chin: a face of character, not beauty” and that “there is thus an authenticated sequence for Anne Boleyn, comprising the medal, the Chequers enamel and the Hever/NPG pattern.”
Ives also mentions the miniature attributed to the 17th century miniaturist, John Hoskins, which was said to have been copied “from an ancient original”. Ives concludes that Hoskins had access to an earlier image, probably the same image that the NPG portrait is based on and wonders if the miniature and portrait are actually based on a lost Holbein because in 1590 Lord Lumley owned a full-length portrait of Anne Boleyn and we know that it existed as late as 1773. Whatever the original inspiration for the Hoskins miniature, Ives believes that “it is the best depiction of Anne we are ever likely to have, failing the discovery of new material” and concludes:-
“Portrait medal – Chequers ring – Hever/NPG pattern – Hoskins miniature: the chain is complete. We have the real Anne Boleyn.”
Roland Hui and the NPG Portrait
Hui agrees with Ives about the NPG portrait being a true likeness of Anne Boleyn. He states that although it has often been discounted because it dates back to the late 16th century, during Elizabeth I’s reign, costume evidence goes in its favour. In the portrait, the woman is “fashionably attired unlike the lady of the Windsor drawing [the chalk sketch]” in a black gown with a gold decorated collar and a stylish French hood with pearled billiments. Hui points out that black was one of Anne’s preferred colours for gowns as shown in royal expenses and we know that Anne was fond of the French Hood, rather than the English style Gable Hood. Hui goes on to say that the painting’s correlation to two works by the Flemish artist Lucas Horenbolte and the Hever Castle rose portrait establish “the NPG type as a portrait derived from Anne’s own lifetime”.
Hever and NPG Portraits
The Hever Rose Portrait and Horenbolte
Hui writes that “what authenticates the NPG painting as a true likeness of Anne Boleyn, is a copy of this type at Hever Castle.” If we compare the two portraits there are similarities:-
- The French Hood is the same
- The dress has the same colouring and collar
- The B necklace and gold chain are the same
- The sitter has the same long face, high cheekbones and long nose
The main difference between the two is the position of the hands which, in the Hever portrait, are placed across the breast with one holding a red rose. Hui writes that this positioning of the sitter is reminiscent of a portrait of an Unknown Woman attributed to Horenbolte and thought to be Margaret Pole, the Countess of Salisbury, where the sitter has her hands at her breast holding a girdle or pomander, and of the Horenbolte miniature of Catherine of Aragon where Catherine is offering a scrap of food to her pet monkey.
Why is this feature of the painting so important?
Because, according to Hui, this custom of placing the hands in this way was only fashionable in Tudor portraiture in the 1520′s and 1530′s. Hui concludes, therefore, that “the NPG/Hever type of Anne was painted from life with the Queen formally posed in the then current fashion” and that “these clues point to Horenbolte as the originator of the NPG type image of Anne Boleyn”, after all, he was in royal service by 1531 and may well have received patronage from the Boleyn family or from William Carey, Anne’s brother-in-law, before that time.
My Anne Boleyn
We all have our favourite Anne Boleyn portraits don’t we? Well, mine is the Hever Castle portrait, the one where Anne is holding the rose. Why? Because I feel that it is the closest match to contemporary and Elizabethan descriptions of Anne:-
“Anne Boleyn was rather tall in stature with black hair and an oval face of sallow complexion.” Nicholas Sander
“Not one of the handsomest women in the world; she is of middling stature, swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, a bosom not much raised and eyes which are black and beautiful.” Francesco Sanuto, Venetian diplomat
“beautiful and with an elegant figure” Lancelot de Carles
While she was not the classic English rose, Anne was an attractive woman who had the likes of Henry Percy, Thomas Wyatt and Henry VIII captivated and I just can’t see them being crazy about the women depicted in the sketches.
Other Anne Boleyn Portraits
Robert Mylne and Olivia Peyton from the Anne Boleyn Facebook page brought two other Anne Boleyn portraits to my attention. The first is a miniature by an unknown artist, although it is inscribed Lucas Cornelli, which dates back to c1600 and which shows Anne Boleyn in her famous B necklace and the same outfit as shown in the NPG and Hever portraits. It is a beautiful miniature.
The second is the Somerley Portrait, a 16th century painting attributed to Luca Penni and sometimes identified as Lady Jane Grey. Olivia and Robert are convinced that this painting is Anne Boleyn because of the sitter’s dark looks and long neck, its resemblance to the Mona Lisa (Anne may well have met Leonardo da Vinci in France and been inspired by his style) and the leopard trim which is “emblematic of English royalty” because the leopard was the heraldic symbol of the English royals and the initial on the sitter’s cuff which could be a B rather than a D. I don’t know if it’s Anne Boleyn but it’s a beautiful portrait. You can see it at SomeGreyMatter.com
What do you think? Which portrait is the true face of Anne Boleyn in your opinion?
Sources
- “An Old Tradition Reasserted: Holbein’s Portrait of Queen Anne Boleyn”, John Rowlands and David Starkey, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 125, No. 959 (Feb., 1983), pp. 88+90-92
- “A Reassessment of Queen Anne Boleyn’s Portraiture”, Roland Hui
- “The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn”, Eric Ives, 2004
- Anne Boleyn Facebook Group, run by Robert Mylne and Olivia Peyton
Thank you so much for all your kind comments on the article, I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. Reformer, these portraits have been analysed by experts and art historians etc. and that’s what my article was based on. It is hard to believe that they’re all meant to be the same woman! The NPG portrait is not attributed to Holbein, but to an “Unknown Artist”, but both sketches are attributed to Holbein.
I definitely agree with those of you that have commented on the blonde hair actually being part of her hood, that’s definitely what it looks like to me.
I so wish that the full length portrait of Anne would come to light!
[Reply]
The Hever Castle portrait is how I picture Anne. I feel like her confident personality really shines through in it.
[Reply]
Am I the only one that thinks the medal that is of Anne looks exactly like the Nidd Hall portrait? The hat first and foremost!
As for which is my favorite, it would be the Hoskins or Hever one. Am I right in placing them in order of being completed as Hever, NPG, Hoskins?
[Reply]
I favor the NPG Anne, because her daughter’s features are so similar to this depiction; check out the coronation portrait especially: http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/elizface.htm
(I’m also deeply fond of the NPG’s adolescent Elizabeth, which I try to visit every time I’m in London.)
I can understand the importance of the ring portrait as well, the best evidence, in my opinion, that Elizabeth honored her mother’s memory and wanted to keep it close. Poor girl. When one thinks about it, she really had a very strange youth–all the more marvelous that she was able to turn so many possible weaknesses–fear, insecurity, indecisiveness–to her advantage as queen.
[Reply]
Like Noelle,my vision of Anne is the one from Hever Castle ! She looks really beautiful,delicate and charming in it !
[Reply]
The latest picture , in my opinion is Anne. Basically because she has black hair and eyes.And the oval face as Nicholas Sander descrived
[Reply]
It’s to bad Henry got rid of a lot of her portraits. It would be cool to get one of those people that can do the face thing on the computer that eventually coes out to what the person would of really looked like. I think it should be done with Anne because the lack of portrait paintings.
To bad Henry couldn’t of given Annes family all the pictures that were made of her.
[Reply]
I’ve always been inclined to think the Holbein sketch of the “undressed” lady with the double chin IS a true, from life depiction of Anne Boleyn. To me, she looks like a woman great with child and expected to give birth at any moment. She is too uncomfortable to dress, and since Holbein could easily draw someone and then later add in more appropriate clothing, I think that’s what he did. Especially as there was a real chance she could die in childbirth and she was expected to give birth to the long awaited male heir. Someone probably thought maybe a portrait of the queen might be a good idea. Take away all that “baby fat”, and she could easily morph into the NGA portrait.
[Reply]
I believe Lucas Cornelli was 16th century, not circa 1600. He was a minor court painter for Henry VIII, painted the famous image of John of Gaunt, and was a contemporary of Holbein:
“33 A miniature based on the NPG type (The Earl of
Romney; reproduced in: A.F. POLLARD: Thomas Cranmer
and the English Reformation 1489-1556, New York
[1906], facing p.32) bears an inscription that it was
copied from a picture by Lucas Cornelii (1493/5-1552).
Cornelli (also Corneley, Cornelisz, or de Kock ) was
an obscure Flemish painter of oils and watercolours
who supposedly worked at the English Court. The
attribution to him as the original artist of the
Boleyn picture may have been due to a number of
Henrican portraits at Hampton Court being labeled as
his. See: CAREL VAN MANDER: Dutch and Flemish
Painters, Translation from Schilderboeck, New York
[1936], p. 70 and p. 454, note 1. Cornelli has also
been confused with the ‘Lucas’ (that is Horenbolte)
who taught Holbein to paint miniatures. Refer to: J.J.
FOSTER:Dictionary of Painters of Miniatures
(1525-1850), London [1926], p.60.”
http://books.google.com/books?id=GaQZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR27&lpg=PR27&dq=Lucas+Cornelli&source=bl&ots=D0dFUdl4pl&sig=IFyPYl2nDKFFMG6PLU3YPa_qwzU&hl=en&ei=KjhMTYXSH4GosQPa8pyYCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Lucas%20Cornelli&f=false
http://books.google.com/books?id=IlcFAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA18&lpg=RA2-PA18&dq=Lucas+Cornelli&source=bl&ots=3otNv1dzrp&sig=IYSgl2_mLfdzkJYk_e902rRxqio&hl=en&ei=KjhMTYXSH4GosQPa8pyYCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEIQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=Lucas%20Cornelli&f=false
[Reply]
Excellent article. I personally love the Hever portrait of Anne, as I feel it shows how captivating, intriguing and beautiful, to be frank, she was. I think it’s a stunning picture of her, and I do prefer it to the NPG one. Many people have also commented that it is probably closer to Anne’s true colouring, as the NPG one highlights her as having light brown hair.
[Reply]
Wow, my favourite portrait of Anne is the Hever one too, Claire! My second favourite has always been the NPG portrait. Even before I was old enough to examine the evidence and decide that they probably were the most likely to be her true likeness, I just really liked them.
[Reply]
I think I have to agree with you. I have studied all portraits in great depth and each time I do, have arrived at the same conclusion. The Hever portrait I think most resembles the image of Anne contained within the Chequers ring which was owned by Elizabeth. Nowhere are the features of the oval face, strong nose, dark eyes, dark complexion and wide mouth more profound than in these two images and as we know, the chequers ring MUST have been derived from a true likeness to have been accepted in Queen Elizabeth’s Court. Also, I feel both these images strongly correspond to portraits of Elizabeth during adulthood, whose own portraiture also featured a prominently oval face, with a long nose, wide mouth and dark eyes.
[Reply]
I love the Hever Castle portrait, Anne looks beautiful and exactly how I imagine she would have looked. I think that the NPG and Hever portraits do look similar and that perhaps the NPG one is an older Anne.
[Reply]
mi favorito es el de Hever, ese acerta mas a sus caracteristicas fisicas…en el de NPG sale algo sombria y friaa y ana era todo menos eso…yo no creo que el primero, ni el de Horenbolte ni el de Hall Nidd sea ana bolena ya que ella usaba la capucha francesa la que esta en forma de media luna.
[Reply]
I love the Lucas Cornelli, and not just because it shows a beautiful depiction of Anne’s personality as well as her looks. I think it’s likely that it is one of the most accurate images we have for her; if it can be dated back to c1600 it is likely that Anne’s appearance would have been remembered become common knowledge, it is not that long after her death.
[Reply]
Sara Reply:
July 10th, 2011 at 9:46 am
well mora than 50 years are more than enough I think it that times it was a pretty long tiome ago, but I think he does come out from the other portraits the most. Hever nad NPG
[Reply]
Well you think the portraits are very different, that not truth, I would like to know which kind of studium have you made, because when somebody with atr school look at it it comes throught what you probably do not see. Lets take one more look on the portraits and now tell me whats the nose like? Doesn´t it looke realy similar? It does the most shape how it goes is in all paintings charakterized the same and now the side portrait – even the face from Haver could from side point of view look exactli like this you must not see the fat kin from the front but from a side could it exactly be like this the nose and the cheeks and their shape(of cheekbones) has the same direction.
The good observation did made Anne in the lasts comments with maybe is she in that time pregnant and have gained a few pounds, thats sounds realy inteligent observated for me. And the last thing Anne Boleyn schould underwent english sweat fever and that might leave some consequences for some time. And to the argument she would not allow pictures of her like this must be said that what did Holbein or the other artists for king she have a very little to chat in, she must even known that it exist, because it could be put on the wall later on after the king had it somewhere else.
[Reply]
To the how it looks like because of the worn bonnet on the portraits and the style – It seems to me as Anne Boleyn was the affaire from the king and she did everythig to mary him, because she wanted to be a queen. And the oueens which were adorable and loved by people were these like Katherine of Aragon – surly you have a portrait of her too when you would like to messure yourself with somebody like that what would you do after you get what you wanted you let make a portrait from you whats mostly the same as the beloved queen, and that I think what this unkind power hungry woman did.
And the similation to the Jane Seymour – You as somebody who is realy interested in this part of history must know that Jane was what Anne was affraid of next mistress for king and he was interested so what you do you faith with the same weapons and doulbels them wear the same and looks better as she does, looke quite she do but gives more fun.
I could work wouldn´t she be in a right stress because of the problems to get a new baby new successor and wouldn´t she be a realy nasty and rough to very sensible and vain Henry the king and the royals it could went otherways
[Reply]
What about this portrait. It shows the long oval face but is darker complected. It is by an unknown artist supposedly 1533
http://www.marileecody.com/sixwives/boleynunknown1.jpg
[Reply]
I’m not looking anything gorgeous in photos, but I always have men chasing after and crazy about. So I rather say, Anne looked glamorous, stylish and gorgeous in person which no sketching nor painting (especially in that age, when drawings look a lot distorted from ill perspective skill and all) could have brought it out.
[Reply]
One portrait is of a much prettier woman. The eyes are more delicate and slanted, rather more long than round and the lips are fuller. I doubt this is what Anne really looked like as the woman in this portrait would certainly be considered beautiful. So I am inclined to believe that the less beautiful woman is closer to how AB really looked. And its probably painted to flatter, so I think AB was one of those plain woman who have more natural allure than many pretty women
[Reply]
Personally, I think the Somerley Portrait is the real face of Anne Boleyn, if you compare the Hever and NPG portraits to that of the Somerley one they match perfectly. Dark hair, skin and eyes, with a long neck and bosom not much raised with the long oval face and the key to the Somerley Portrait besides the physical similarities is she holding a book and we all know how educated Anne was and her fondness of reading was, and furthermore if you put young Elizabeth side by side to the Somerley Portrait they are strikingly similar. Just my opinion,
[Reply]
jennifer Reply:
November 4th, 2011 at 2:44 am
One last thing the Somerley Portrait also matches the locket ring perfectly.
[Reply]
Hello, Claire.
First I would like to point out how much your site has been most useful for my research. I am Brazilian and college history course. Recently I noted an article that casts doubt on the validity of the portrait of Anne Boleyn at NPG. They say it might be Mary Tudor, especially if compared with the picture in which she appears with Charles Brandon, attributed to Jan Mabuse. I wonder about your point of view on the comparison. Thank you.
ps. sorry for my English.
[Reply]
Hi I am fascinated with the somerley portrait for 35 years I have read extensively about the Tudors especially about Anne and Elizabeth.i have always felt that the portrait at never was probably an authentic painting.
That was until I saw recently the somerley portrait! She looks so confident,she has a certain loose limbed easiness.that lady knows who she is and has a well diguised haughty look in her pretty eyes.the commentator says up close she has light perhaps blue eyes,but
They look dark to me.
Is this Anne ?I have always wondered what she was really like and of all the portraits that are out there this is the only one I hav ever seen that would fit her personality and easy confidence.it seems to shout that this is someone special whoever she is!
Also she has a dimple in her chin did Anne have one? I’m sure there’s a portrait that shows her with a dimple but I’m confused now!
Look forward to any info.
Regards,
Della.
[Reply]
I think the only true way we can picture anne boleyn is through her daughter Elizabeth 1st. She does not resemble much of her father beside the red hair, but she could look like her grandmothers on her father side because of genes. All the description of annes have more favoured elizabeth in potraits. Potraits are amazingly done but I dont think they represent the people well enough.
[Reply]
I also read somewhere that the Holbein protrait was made either during her pregnancy or right after. If that is the case, there could be a heaviness in her features that is not normally there. In the Holbein protrait, the woman is also looking down-even the slenderest person looking down has a hint of a double chin.
I believe the Holbein is just an informal sketch of a Anne in her dressing gown,during or just after her first pregnancy,and not meant to be seen publicly.She looks like she’s tired, disappointed, and rethinking her future.
[Reply]
nanci Reply:
January 5th, 2012 at 1:27 pm
I was thinking the same thing – that this could have been perhaps a preliminary sketch while she was pregnant, maybe around the time of her coronation, for a future portrait. She certainly wasn’t hiding her pregnancy by then, so this could well be the case.
[Reply]
While the Hever castle portrait is my personal fave, I also think there is some truth in the Holbein sketch that is top left in this article. I have always looked at it with the feeling that she was going to move and speak at any moment. Plus the facial expression is one of supreme confidence and serenity. IMO Holbein was far and away the best of the Tudor era artists as he had the rare talent of bringing his subjects to life.
[Reply]
Great article!
I think that the NPG portrait is actually a “reworking” of the Hever portrait — kind of like a re-touching of the original, probably to make her resemblance to Elizabeth I even more intense.
I think the Hever portrait is a true likeness of Anne — however, I can see how the Holbein portrait could be of Anne. Wasn’t Holbein known to do more “intimate” and “realistic” sketches of his subjects? This could have been a “bad hair day” for Anne — hence the reasoning it never saw the light of day as a completed portrait.
[Reply]
I will go for what I see on two editions of Eric Ives’ books on Anne Boleyn:
The Eric Ives’ “Anne Boleyn,” 1968 edtiion shows the portrait of Anne on the teel (sp?) color cover as in the one on the bottom left hand corner in the part of this article, Erice Ives and the Real Anne Boleyn.
In the Eric Ives expanded edition: ‘ “The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, ” circa 2005, one the black color cover has the Hever Rose Painting on the cover with the red Rose. I believe this is the true portrait of Anne for a few reasons. First I have read on one of the articles on this site about her coronation, that her long black hair must have been quite the site over the white gown she wore, and also that this second book, that I purchased as this is the one that Claire and I both agree is the Eric Ives’ bible on Anne, and that after nine years, and knowing Eric Ives now for his attention to detail and accuracy, must be the right portrait, and I have both books sitting side by side right beside me.
So as described in an article(s) on this site, and comparing the portraits on the covers of two Eric Ives’ editions of the same work (the lastest longer and more revised, I have to make it the Hever Rose portrait.
That is just an opinion with the article of Anne’s Coronation on my “favorites,” and the evidence of the differenc in nine years on the covers of “the” authority on Anne, then that is just my lil’ ole conclusion. Thank you! WilesWales
[Reply]
Baraoness Von Reis Reply:
March 7th, 2012 at 5:13 pm
WilesWales, THX so much,either or I am looking forward to both of the books,thank you again Wiles. Regards Baroness Von Reis
[Reply]
There is a lot to suggest that Holbein’s portrait of ‘Anna Bollein Queen’ is not of her. In my old book (William Heinmann Ltd.), the drawing is opposite a painting of Jane Seymour and one could argue (and perhaps the author was implying) that there are enough similarities to suggest that it is really of her. She is portrayed as a plain woman. Plain Jane possibly!. But do not underestimate Holbein’s art, he who revealed the true person, an artist who, if he chose to, could see beyond beauty, style and grandeur to the humble unadorned person. It seems quite possible to me (and perhaps to Hilary Mantel who raised the issue in today’s Guardian) that the magic and power of Anne Boleyn was in her ability to transform herself (chrysalis-like) into a ‘beautiful’ woman.
[Reply]
Claire Reply:
May 14th, 2012 at 7:45 pm
The Royal Collection have recently catalogued the Holbein drawing as Anne Boleyn – see Bendor Grosvenor’s article Anne Boleyn Regains Her Head – but I’m not convinced. I agree with you about Holbein, he was an amazing artist.
[Reply]