When people imagine Queen Anne Boleyn, the infamous second wife of King Henry VIII, they often imagine a dark-haired woman with sharp eyes, wearing the famous “B” pendant necklace. However, the truth is that it is unknown what Anne actually looked like. Historians continue to debate her likeness centuries after her death.
During Boleyn’s lifetime, it was a privilege to have a portrait painted. As queen of England, it is likely Boleyn would have had images of her created. However, no verified contemporary portrait of Anne Boleyn has survived.
After her execution in 1536, symbols of Boleyn were destroyed to erase her entirely. King Henry VIII may have had official portraits of Boleyn destroyed. It is more likely that the images of her are simply lost to time or painted over, another common practice of that time.
Despite not having verified contemporary images, Boleyn has very famous posthumous portraits created during the reign of her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I. The most famous image associated with her is the Hever Castle portrait, painted in the late 16th century, which shows Boleyn in her signature pearl “B” necklace.
The Hever Castle portrait is considered to be a part of the “B pattern” portraits. These are images of Boleyn that are copies of an original portrait that was lost.
Another contender is the Nidd Hall portrait, once labeled “Anne Boleyn.” However, scientific testing revealed it was painted decades after her death.
The National Portrait Gallery portrait and a handful of miniature sketches have also been put forward as possible likenesses, though none can be proven.
In 2015, researchers from the National Portrait Gallery used advanced imaging techniques to study the Hever and Nidd Hall portraits. They found that while both shared features and composition, the paint layers and materials dated from Elizabeth I’s reign, long after Boleyn’s execution. The conclusion? The popular image of Boleyn may actually be a posthumous invention, shaped by how people wanted to remember her rather than how she truly looked.
There are contemporary descriptions of what Boleyn may have looked like. However, many of them are not sources kind to Boleyn. These descriptions are fueled by hatred and anti-protestant sentiments.
One is from Nicholas Sanders, a Catholic priest in England. Sanders described Boleyn as tall, with black hair, an oval face, a swallow, jaundice-like complexion, a projecting tooth, six fingers on her right hand and a large wart under her chin.
However, Sanders’ description of Boleyn was written 30 years after her death. Nicholas Sanders was also just a child when Boleyn was executed and would have never seen her in the flesh. Having six fingers was considered a sign of witchcraft at the time, so it is unlikely that King Henry VIII would have been very fond of Boleyn if she had an extra finger.
The accounts that seem to have less bias are from foreign ambassadors and describe her as having dark hair, olive skin, a wide mouth and eyes that are black and beautiful. One court observer called her “not the handsomest woman,” but with such “attractive eyes” and “a sweet voice” that she charmed everyone she met.
There might not be any contemporary painted portraits of Anne Boleyn, but a medal with her image on it was struck in 1534 and survives to this day. The “Moost Happi Medal” was struck as a prototype when Boleyn was believed to be pregnant with a son. The medal is greatly damaged, but reconstructed images of it show a Boleyn with strong features and a prominent nose.