Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
12:07 pm
July 17, 2011
Offline
I just wondered, going by the portraits of each wife, which wife do you consider to be the most attractive?
I have to say Anne Boleyn, despite her not being the ideal of beauty at the time. She stands out for me as very very attractive.
In order I would say
Anne Boleyn
Anne of Cleves
Katherine of Aragon (although in her younger portraits she is beautiful)
Catherine Parr
Jane Seymour
Katherine Howard
Sorry its a bit of a shallow question but I have been studying all day and my brain has turned to mush, so just thought I would post an easy discussion.
'If honour were profitable, everybody would be honourable' Thomas More
12:50 am
May 19, 2011
Offline
I too think Anne was by far the most attractive- based on her portraits she is very nice to look at though as you say, not the ideal beauty of the time. But her personality, fashion, accent, physique all make a very attractive package.
Katherine of Aragon was a very pretty princess so she comes in second followed by little Katherine Howard.
Then Katheryn Parr, then Anne of Cleves. If I was going only on Holbein's portrait I would list Anne of Cleves as second.. but I'v seen other pictures of Anne of Cleves and they weren't pretty!
Everyone on the site is aware of my opinion of the Seymour, so I wont even go there!
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
7:14 am
June 7, 2010
Offline
For me, KOA (especially as a Princess) is quite beautiful. According to historical sources, she was the epitome of beauty for her period. I am sure her beauty is what captured Henry's heart in the beginning. It's a shame what years of childbearing, miscarriages, and stillbirths did to be physically and emotionally.
Anne is more sexy than beauty. There is a certain je ne sais quoi. I believe it was her intelligence, sex appeal, and wit that captured men's hearts more than her looks, which is never a bad thing. I am reminded of Heather Dale's song Medusa. It's a song about a girl, less than coventionally attractive, yet she captures the hearts and minds of all the boys: much like our Anne.
Katherine Parr is quite pretty is many of her portraits, although Elizabeth Norton makes a note to the contrary. Much like Anne, KP had intelliegence and wit to compensate for her appearance.
Anne of Cleves, according to the Holbein portrait.
I am not sure what to make of KH. I guess for her time she was cute: she has a certain look about her, seductive and all.
Poor Jane Seymour: none of her portraits do the girl any justice. I imagine her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair complextion were the standard for the day.
"By daily proof you shall find me to be to you both loving and kind" Anne Boleyn
8:02 am
June 7, 2011
Offline
E said:
I too think Anne was by far the most attractive- based on her portraits she is very nice to look at though as you say, not the ideal beauty of the time. But her personality, fashion, accent, physique all make a very attractive package.
Katherine of Aragon was a very pretty princess so she comes in second followed by little Katherine Howard.
Then Katheryn Parr, then Anne of Cleves. If I was going only on Holbein's portrait I would list Anne of Cleves as second.. but I'v seen other pictures of Anne of Cleves and they weren't pretty!
Everyone on the site is aware of my opinion of the Seymour, so I wont even go there!
Same here!
Maybe Henry chose Jane's plain looks so she couldn't outshine him like Anne did 
I wonder where the saying plain Jane comes from…
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
8:05 am
June 7, 2011
Offline
Ahh plain Jane comes from 1912 – not Jane Seymour then haha…
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
8:09 am
July 17, 2011
Offline
To be fair though, that awful gable hood probably doesn't do her any favours. I bet she would look quite different if we had a portrait of her with her long hair showing for example.
'If honour were profitable, everybody would be honourable' Thomas More
12:40 pm
June 7, 2011
Offline
Catalina said:
To be fair though, that awful gable hood probably doesn't do her any favours. I bet she would look quite different if we had a portrait of her with her long hair showing for example.
It's not very good – I rushed it – But here is Jane with her hair down:
(From how I imagine her hair would be)
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
12:49 pm
July 17, 2011
Offline
Wow, thats awesome, did you paint this?
'If honour were profitable, everybody would be honourable' Thomas More
2:33 pm
June 7, 2011
Offline
Sorta – In photoshop
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
3:25 pm
August 3, 2010
Offline
I'm doing this based on a mix of descriptions and portrait, because obviously the Anne of Cleves portrait (and others, most likely) were flattering. By modern standards of beauty, I think in this order (yes, I may be partial, but I would still think Anne was the most beautiful even if I didn't like her!):
1. Anne Boleyn
2. Catherine Parr
3. Katherine of Aragon
4. Anne of Cleves (in her Holbein portrait, I would put her second or third, but because of descriptions and other, less flattering portraits…)
5. Katherine Howard
6. Jane Seymour
"Grumble all you like, this is how it's going to be"
10:26 pm
January 9, 2010
Offline
Elliemarianna said:
It's not very good – I rushed it – But here is Jane with her hair down:
(From how I imagine her hair would be)
Wow, that's awesome! Jane looks so much better already; such a pity she didn't have better fashion sense
6:31 am
November 18, 2010
Offline
Elliemarianna said:
Catalina said:
To be fair though, that awful gable hood probably doesn't do her any favours. I bet she would look quite different if we had a portrait of her with her long hair showing for example.
It's not very good – I rushed it – But here is Jane with her hair down:
(From how I imagine her hair would be)
She looks like Luna Lovegood.
It's always bunnies.
6:36 am
July 17, 2011
Offline
I vaguely recall reading somewhere that her hair was her most alluring feature because it was such a pale shade of blonde it was almost silvery. Whether I read it in a fiction or non fiction book I can't remember though.
'If honour were profitable, everybody would be honourable' Thomas More
6:43 am
June 7, 2011
Offline
Maybe she was albino? That would explain her lack of colouring… lol!
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
9:19 am
October 31, 2010
Offline
I thought I had read somewhere that Jane's hair was actually more of a strawberry blond.
And I'm irritated because I responded to this post last night and I have NO idea where my post went!
1. I have to say Katherine Howard. Kitty is my least favorite of Henry's wives, but Holbein did such an amazing job of capturing that “come hither” look in her eyes, I sort of understand why Henry fell for her. I do wish that she had more of a smile in the portrait, but if we're judging solely on appearance, then I think KH probably wins top prize for me.
2. Anne. If you look at her Holbein portrait, she, too, has a bit of the “come hither” look in her eyes, but it's tempered more by her slight smile.
3. Anne of Cleves. I have a soft spot in my heart for AoC, and I think it's sad that she's gone down in history as “the ugly one” because Henry couldn't consummate the marriage. Why, pray tell, is Anne blamed for Henry's impotence? So maybe she had a big nose–who cares? Jane Seymour had essentially no chin and Henry himself had a disgusting ulcerating leg so isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?
4 and 5. Tie between Katherine of Aragon and Catherine Parr. I just don't feel like any of their portraits do them justice. The portrait of Catherine Parr as a young lady is stunning, but neither of the portraits done of them later in life is especially attractive.
6. Jane Seymour. Bless her heart. As we've all mentioned, the gabled hood did absolutely nothing for her. But I also tend to think that she probably wasn't all that unattractive by standards of the day. Unfortunately, she's being compared to five other women who WERE very attractive. It's like comparing me to Heidi Klum or Angelina Jolie. I'm not unattractive, but I'm also no super model.
"We mustn't let our passions destroy our dreams…"
9:51 am
June 7, 2011
Offline
I've always imagined people in tudor portraits smiling… I wonder how many of them had rotten or no teeth? Mary had lost all of her teeth in her 20's. Not that it's much diffrent now in England for people on the NHS haha!
"It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declre that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs..." Jane Austen.
10:51 am
May 19, 2011
Offline
Elliemarianna said:
Catalina said:
To be fair though, that awful gable hood probably doesn't do her any favours. I bet she would look quite different if we had a portrait of her with her long hair showing for example.
It's not very good – I rushed it – But here is Jane with her hair down:
(From how I imagine her hair would be)
Fantastic! She's not much better without the hood is she?!! Chuckle.. I'v thought that too, she was definitely safe from outshining anyone! -Great pic!
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
10:58 am
May 19, 2011
Offline
MegC said:
It's like comparing me to Heidi Klum or Angelina Jolie. I'm not unattractive, but I'm also no super model.
Nonsence MegC!! the best supermodels are plain- Im sure we would all outshine them should they take their makeup off!
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
10:59 am
May 19, 2011
Offline
Apart from Jane Seymour…
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
8:54 am
February 10, 2010
Offline
Henry seemed to indicate it was AoC's body odour that put him off. Also, she seems to have been quite a big lady and Henry liked his women petite, so it's not just a question of the face. I also think there may have been a convention that royalty was painted as being serious – having been born or called to this position they are conscious of their own importance (or something like that anyway). Also if you think how much your face can ache when someone's taking a bit too long to take a photo imagine what smiling while someone painted your portrait would have done to you!
Anne obviously seems to have been the most attractive, although not conventionally so. It's a shame we don't have a definite painting of her by Holbein.
KoA as a young woman was pretty.
Catherine Howard looks to have been attractive – I think the haughty expression on her face might have been due to her youth and not really knowing how to be queen.
I'd tie AoC and KP – they're not unattractive but neither are they particularly outstanding. Having said that, in both cases they were probably the most attractive of the women available to Henry. AoC was one of the few European princesses that would agree to marry him and (because of the Act of Attainder that condemned CH) Henry really had to marry a widow on the last time around. Had the timing been different there would have been a few more around but not in 1543.
And that leaves poor Jane – of whom Chapuys says 'nobody thinks she has much beauty'.
