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4:40 pm
October 31, 2010
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robertparry said:
Oh dear no, this cannot be the bright, extroverted and vivacious Anne Boleyn that we imagine from all the available reports and information that have survived. I agree: given the age of the woman in this portrait, it is unlikely she would have been shown in the by-then rather old-fashioned gable hood – even though this style did make a come-back with Anne's successor Jane Seymour. It does resemble the well-known Holbein portrait of Jane, in fact.
I honestly thought at first that this was a mis-labeled portrait of Jane Seymour.
"We mustn't let our passions destroy our dreams…"
8:01 am
April 18, 2011
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I dont like it at all, and I think it looks more like Jane.
If it is Anne then there is no life or spark to the portrait at all, Either it was painted at the end of her life as others have suggested or she requested the artist to make her seem more demure like Jane.
Defintely not the image I associate with Anne.
1:14 pm
May 16, 2011
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I dont' believe it's Anne. I agree with other that it resembles Jane Seymour. To me personally, Anne is the NPG portrait.
• Grumble all you like, this is how it’s going to be.
4:29 pm
July 9, 2009
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(I haven't posted on here in so long, I miss you guys!)
Hi Claire-Louise. I posted on this a while back but I couldn't find the thread. Basically, I agree with http://www.oocities.org/roland…..aiture.htm
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
8:17 am
March 26, 2011
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Melissa said:
(I haven't posted on here in so long, I miss you guys!)
Hi Claire-Louise. I posted on this a while back but I couldn't find the thread. Basically, I agree with http://www.oocities.org/roland…..aiture.htm
Thanks for the link Melissa, this is a very interesting article
1:52 am
May 19, 2011
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That article was great! And made so much sense. I once thought that the above pic of Anne which none of us really likes was done to discredit her by making her look old, ugly and past childbearing age. A bit of Henry propaganda.. But it makes so much more sense that it was done long after her death and based on the Seymour. When I first saw the pic I too thought it was Seymour. I love the info about hand placement being popular between 1525-1530- this is a great thing to look out for in other portraits! It also means my fave pic of Anne (featured on the silver ring I purchased from ABFiles 2years ago) was done during her life time and an accurate representation of her!
Anne did wear the gable hood, though not as often as her french hood and was certainly the most fashionable Lady at court..
"A fresh young damsel, who could trip and go"
11:08 am
February 10, 2010
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Sorry for the late comment – I meant to comment ages ago but then I forgot where this discussion was!
According to Ives, the only image of Anne that is definitely from her lifetime is the medal which quite clearly shows her wearing the shortened version of the gable hood – was it called the English hood? However, the black French hood with the double row of pearls is quite clearly how people around Elizabeth remembered Anne, hence its appearance in her ring. So she did wear both – I think she was very conscious of image and there would be times in her life when it was to her advantage to appear wholly English.
Ives thinks the Nidd Hall tradition comes from a later period in her life than the French hood version and that does make some sort of sense. Towards the end of her life Cromwell was trying to negotiate with the Emperor Charles but Henry was determined that Charles should recognise his marriage to Anne. This is one of the reasons her fall was so shocking – towards the end of April Henry was still insisting the Boleyn marriage was recognised by the Emperor. Therefore, a portrait of Anne dressed in English fashion rather than the French would have been useful from a political point of view.
The painting is a copy of an original (possibly even done by Holbein?) and so there may well be a loss of character but I think there may be another reason for why the image just doesn't seem to be Anne. If I'm right in guessing this was painted towards the end of 1535/early 1536 then she was either pregnant or had just suffered a miscarriage. Anne was a consummate politician I suspect she would still have sat for a portrait even if she was ill or suffering.
Of course, it could be that someone has taken a portrait of Jane Seymour and dressed it to look like Anne but I think the face is thinner than Jane Seymour's, the eyes are bigger and the lady in this portrait has a pointed rather than a square chin and a smaller nose than Jane did. (Meeow!) The necklaces probably are the same as in portraits of Jane (and KH and KP?) – and were simply passed from wife to unfortunate wife.
12:53 pm
June 1, 2010
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I have always wondered why, in Elizabeth's ring, Anne's hair appears to be blond?
12:41 pm
February 10, 2010
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Wendy – I've wondered the same. I remember reading when I was a teenager that it wasn't unusual for painters to give their sitters more fashionable colouring, which is why Anne often appears to have dark auburn hair, even though she was renowned for being dark-haired and celebrated as 'brunet'. The other possibility is that whatever pigment was used has deteriorated over time (although the usual suspect, direct sunlight probably wouldn't apply here).
5:19 pm
July 9, 2009
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Wendy said:
I have always wondered why, in Elizabeth's ring, Anne's hair appears to be blond?
Ainsi sera, groigne qui groigne.
12:59 am
June 7, 2011
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Melissa said:
Wendy said:
I have always wondered why, in Elizabeth's ring, Anne's hair appears to be blond?
Kathrine Parr had brown hair…
"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.
