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There are so many portraits out there of Anne Boleyn and we will never know for certain which one is her – which one do you think most resembles her?
**UPDATE: Hever Castle Curator, Anna Spender, talks about the many conflicting reports of Anne Boleyn’s appearance and the artist’s interpretation of Anne. You can view Anna’s discussion on Anne Boleyn as a pdf HERE.
A recent post by The Red Dot Gallery has raised some questions – Is this the real Anne Boleyn? They say she is 14 years old in this portrait. I have included an image of Elizabeth at 13 years old and one of my favorite portraits of Anne. You decide. I also included the other portraits of Anne.
We all have our favorite Anne Boleyn portraits, right? I’m going to share with you my favorite one.The way she has always been described leads me to believe that most of the others made her too attractive.
“Not one of the handsomest women in the world” reported the Venetian diplomat, Francesco Sanuto, who praised her dark eyes but criticized her flat chest and “swarthy complexion.” – via The Anne Boleyn Myth-Buster: #1, Anne’s Looks
Nicholas Sanders (circa 1530–1581), an English Catholic Priest, for obvious reasons described Anne this way:
Anne Boleyn was rather tall of stature, with black hair and an oval face of sallow complexion, as if troubled with jaundice. She had a projecting tooth under the upper lip, and on her right hand, six fingers. There was a large wen under her chin, and therefore to hide its ugliness, she wore a high dress covering her throat. In this she was followed by the ladies of court, who also wore high dresses, having before been in the habit of leaving their necks and upper portion of their persons uncovered. She was handsome to look at, with a pretty mouth.
This sketch by Hans Holbein the Younger, of Anne, looks like what he describes, except for the blonde hair:
This is MY favorite portrait of Anne – the girl next door…classic beauty, in my opinion.
