Jump to content

File:Hans Holbein the Younger - Queen Anne Boleyn RL 12189.jpg

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikiquote

Original file (1,369 × 2,000 pixels, file size: 745 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

This file is from Wikimedia Commons and may be used by other projects. The description on its file description page there is shown below.

Summary

Description
English: Portrait of a Woman, inscribed in gold over red "Anna Bollein Queen". Black and coloured chalks on pink prepared paper, 28.1 × 19.2 cm. Royal Collection, Windsor.
Heraldic sketches on the reverse

The question whether or not this Holbein drawing is of Anne Boleyn has produced sharp division among scholars. It comes from a priceless collection discovered by Queen Caroline of Ansbach in a bureau at Kensington in 1727. The drawing is one of two by Holbein inscribed as of Anne Boleyn, the other being in the British Museum. The attribution of the present drawing as Anne Boleyn was made by John Cheke, tutor of the future Edward VI, in 1542. Cheke had entered the royal service after a period working at Cambridge University, and so he may never himself have seen Anne Boleyn, who had been executed in 1536; however, he knew people who had known her. For a long time, many scholars, including K. T. Parker and Anne Boleyn's biographer Eric Ives, have doubted that this portrait was of Anne: they point to the occasional mistake in Cheke's attributions, to the sketches of Wyatt heraldry on the back of the sheet, and to dissimilarities between this image and other possible likenesses of Anne, who was said to have had darker hair than depicted. It has also been argued that Holbein would not have drawn a woman of Anne's stature in an undercap. In Ives's view, "There is little to reinstate either Holbein drawing". Among those who argue the case for this portrait being correctly inscribed are Holbein scholar John Rowlands, historian David Starkey, and Holbein's biographer Derek Wilson. They argue for the reinstatement of this image as of Anne and express reluctance to dismiss Cheke's attribution. Rowlands challenges Ives's conclusions, which are partly based on dissimilarities with other possible images of Anne, on the grounds that it is a mistake to rely too much on the accuracy of these other images, particularly since none, except for a damaged portrait medal, are provably contemporary with Anne. Rowlands concludes that "the circumstantial grounds in favour of the Windsor drawing are really very compelling".

As a result of these disagreements, the drawing has not been captioned consistently in reproductions, sometimes being called "Anne Boleyn" without reservation, and sometimes "Unknown Lady" or something similar. Some scholars prefer to label the drawing less decisively: Susan Foister, for example, the curator of the Tate's "Holbein in England" exhibition of 2006, writes: "Whether Holbein portrayed Anne remains an open question: a drawing at Windsor inscribed with her name shows a fair-haired woman whose appearance differs greatly from the painted portraits"; Tarnya Cooper, in the catalogue of the "Elizabeth" exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in 2003, captions the drawing: "Portrait of a Woman, probably Anne Boleyn, c. 1532–6".
Date between 1533 and 1536
date QS:P,+1533-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P1319,+1533-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1536-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
Source http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/912189/queen-anne-boleyn-c-1500-1536-on-the-verso-a-coat-of-arms-of-the-wyatt-family-and
Author
Hans Holbein the Younger  (1497/1498–1543)  wikidata:Q48319 s:it:Autore:Hans Holbein il Giovane q:it:Hans Holbein il Giovane
 
Hans Holbein the Younger
Alternative names
Hans Holbein der Jüngere, Hans Holbein
Description -German painter and drawer
Date of birth/death 1497 or 1498
date QS:P,+1497-00-00T00:00:00Z/8,P1319,+1497-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1498-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
between 7 October 1543 and 29 November 1543
date QS:P,+1543-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1319,+1543-10-07T00:00:00Z/11,P1326,+1543-11-29T00:00:00Z/11
Location of birth/death Augsburg Edit this at Wikidata London Edit this at Wikidata
Work location
Basel (1515-1526), Lucerne (1515-1526), Venice (1515), Bologna (1515), Florence (1515), Rome (1515), Venice (1517-1518), Bologna (1517-1518), Florence (1517-1518), Rome (1517-1518), London (1526-1528), Basel (1528-1532), London (1532-1543)
Authority file
creator QS:P170,Q48319
Other versions

Licensing

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:
Public domain

The author died in 1543, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer.


This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.

This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
The official position taken by the Wikimedia Foundation is that "faithful reproductions of two-dimensional public domain works of art are public domain".
This photographic reproduction is therefore also considered to be in the public domain in the United States. In other jurisdictions, re-use of this content may be restricted; see Reuse of PD-Art photographs for details.

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

image/jpeg

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current21:53, 7 June 2020Thumbnail for version as of 21:53, 7 June 20201,369 × 2,000 (745 KB)TmReverted to version as of 06:03, 28 January 2015 (UTC)
11:45, 23 May 2020Thumbnail for version as of 11:45, 23 May 20201,369 × 2,000 (1.17 MB)0m9EpBrightness, color, contrast
06:03, 28 January 2015Thumbnail for version as of 06:03, 28 January 20151,369 × 2,000 (745 KB)PrimalerUser created page with UploadWizard

The following page uses this file:

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file:

Metadata