MegC said:

Is it just me, or does the 1540's portrait almost look like a copy of the 1530's portrait?  I mean, some of the clothing is changed, but the colors are essentially the same and the hat he's wearing is almost exactly the same.  Do you honestly think that a man like Henry would have had the same hat as much as 10 years later?  And even if he did, do you think he'd wear it in another portrait?  That doesn't seem very Henry-like at all.

That's what made me think they might be posthumous.  I just can't see Henry being happy with those images at all, surely he'd want to be portrayed far more majestically.  I always got the impression that when it came to his image he always liked to be portrayed a certain way. Even if he didn't look all manly and virile in his later years.  

I guess it's a bit like Kim Kardashian getting upset with photographers when they dare to take unflattering pictures of her enormous rear-end.  At least Kim has the benefits of air-brushing and photo-shop.  Old Henry didn't     

I agree with you, too bad they couldn’t reconstruct her face from her skull. Holbein though actually met her in the flesh, as well as other men and women he painted. He was to me very realistic in his portraits and what you see with him is probably how these people looked in life. To me Jane looks washed out in this portrait. But if painted when she was alive, amybe like someone said, it was painted when she was pregnant.