#PortraitTuesday – The Nidd Hall Portrait of Anne Boleyn

I have never liked this portrait, the sitter looks quite ugly and I do not believe the artist was a particularly good draftsman, in all of her portraits Anne has never looked like this, her jaw looks an odd shape and out of proportion to the face, although it has been suggested it could be of Jane Seymour, this portrait does not resemble her either, there are some facial likenesses to Anne Boleyn however, the long almond shaped eyes and eyebrows resemble hers, Jane Seymour’s eyes were narrow with a slant, also this ladies colouring is dark and Jane was described as being too pale, her headdress is the traditional English gable hood and it does resemble the medal, the AB initials on her bodice can only mean ‘Anne Boleyn’, it must have been painted towards the end of her life as she has the slack jowls and the tell tale lines of a woman in her thirties, still I fail to see how any one can say it’s Jane, Jane with apologies to that lady was rather plain and although this lady in the portrait is no looker either, I just think it’s a case of very poor draftsmanship, I doubt Anne or Henry V111 liked it very much either.