It’s an interesting thought, but there’s something in the eyes that’s just not convincing me. Anne’s eyes are very open and innocent, but Catherine’s definitely have a come-hither look to them. Given how naive we know Anne was, I just don’t think she could have managed any look that seductive.

Both portraits are obviously Holbein, and we know that he took liberties with AoC’s portrait to Henry. The eyes, eyebrows, mouth, and chin could easily have been altered, and, from what I understand, it was common for artists to alter their work to perhaps minimize aspects of their subject’s features that were less-than-attractive.

Gill said

I’ve been rereading some of my books about Henry’s wives, and something struck me about these two portraits – the one on the right is supposedly Catherine Howard, but to me she looks just like Anne of Cleves in an English costume. She is known to have worn English dress shortly after marrying Henry. Look at the eyes, eyebrows, mouth and chin. What do you think – could this be another portrait of Anne that has been mislabelled as Catherine?

I have to disagree. The third portrait, which I’ve shown here, is of Anne of Cleves later in life, painted from a different angle. Her face was structurally different from the portrait of Catherine Howard. The shape of the nose is different (and according to x-rays of the second Anne of Cleves picture, longer). It’s harder to notice this when the sitter is looking straight at you in the first portrait, which is why we needed a portrait of Anne of Cleves at an angle!