Is Anne Boleyn's Famous Portrait Actually Elizabeth I?

[AngelaHawkins1993]

Most children favor there parents...Elizabeth looks like her mother!

[chookfeather]

Actually kind of annoyed that they destoryed her portraits but kept his love letters to her....

[melvinhendrikse]

@chookfeather

Those letters were actually preserved in the Vatican archives. Campeggio the papal legate supposedly stole the letters and sent them to Rome.

[chookfeather]

Personally I think it's a good pick up....If I was Elizabeth I would like a portrait of my mother and with no other likeness available would have used descriptions and my own image to create it. Stands to reason. I wonder if anyone secreted away protraits, like Mary Boleyn and her children who it's claimed Anne adopted in an attempt to give Henry a male heir and a reason not to be executed.

[yourMajesty797]

I believe that Elizabeth just happened to have Anne's features, she was afterall Elizabeth's mother.

[popazz1]

It is well known that portraits were often painted over,so who knows.

[themillieblog]

Interesting. Elizabeth got a lot of her mom's features but the father's looks.

[bluebird7962]

The portraits are of Elizabeth I and her mother Anne Boleyn. Theya re not one and the same. NOte the jewellry worn by Anne

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@bluebird7962 I'm saying that the Elizabeth one could well have been used as a model for the Anne one, not that they are exactly the same.

[Varney86]

@AnneBoleynFiles Yes, I knew what you where getting at. And I can see where they would have done this back then.

[sassuhfrass93]

love this

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@sassuhfrass93 Thank you!

[kendahke]

have the paints been carbon dated?

I would expect that there are some similarities, given than Elizabeth is Anne's daughter--duh. But a rip off of one from the other? Please.

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@kendahke Analysis during conservation work has led to the Anne painting being dated to late 16th century, so during the reign of Elizabeth I. I'm not saying that one is ripped off from the other, I'm suggesting that Elizabeth's paintings may have been used as a model for Anne's seeing as images of Anne had been destroyed after her execution

[NikivsMartine]

oh come on: how could it be Elizabeth´s portrait if the woman in the painting is wearing a "B" on her neclace. That was for the Boleyn only, but Elizabeth was a Tudor.

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@NikivsMartine I'm saying that Elizabeth's portraits could well have been used as a model for the Anne Boleyn portrait seeing as all contemporary images of her had been destroyed. The Anne Boleyn portrait in this video dates from the late 16th century, in Elizabeth's reign.

[JessicaLouiseMusic]

oh, thats right! because mother and daughter aren't supposed to look like eachother! pfft! i should have known this! (Sarcasm)

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@JessicaLouiseMusic That is not what this video is about lol! It's actually about whether the Anne Boleyn portrait, which is dated to late 16th century (so during Elizabeth's reignI, is actually based on portraits of Elizabeth, not whether the two women looked alike!

[JessicaLouiseMusic]

@AnneBoleynFiles wait, so, Anne Boleyn's portrait was not created until Elizabeth's reign? Because that's what you've just said.

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@JessicaLouiseMusic That's right. The only contemporary image of Anne is the medal that was made in 1534. An analysis on the NPG portrait of Anne undertaken by the National Portrait Gallery has confirmed that it was painted in the late 16th century, so in Elizabeth I's reign and not when Anne was alive.

[JessicaLouiseMusic]

@AnneBoleynFiles No friggin way! Why?!

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@JessicaLouiseMusic It is thought that all images of Anne were destroyed after her fall in 1536. Such as shame!

[JessicaLouiseMusic]

@AnneBoleynFiles pfft! does that go for Katherine Howard, too?

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@JessicaLouiseMusic The miniature of Katherine Howard is thought to be a contemporary painting but it's not sure whether the one of her wearing a black gown with a high collar is actually Catherine.

[JessicaLouiseMusic]

@AnneBoleynFiles Ohhh right! Well this is all news to me!

[ICantBeFaged]

Did anyone fail to notice that Elizabeth I is Anne Boleyn's daughter, of course she's gonna look like her.....

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@ICantBeFaged The two women are bound to look similar because they are mother and daughter, but I'm making the point that the portraits actually fit over each other and therefore one could be a copy of the other.

[shobsnet02]

I noticed that Queen Elizabeth's eyes were slightly larger, and her lips were fuller, too.

[cardwitch91]

But I do see your point, definately. These two portraits are very similiar and it could be down to the fact that people, not really remembering what Anne looked like, took Elizabeth's likeness and altered it to match surviving descriptions of Anne. But the noses... they are definately the same.

[cardwitch91]

There are no contemporary portraits of Anne Boleyn that survive so there is no way of knowing what she really looked like for certain. However the ones we do have are supposed to be copies and repaints of original portraits of Anne. Therefore the likeness between Anne and Elizabeth could simply be put down to the fact they were mother and daughter. Most daughters take after their mothers.

[QueenzFletch]

I do believe that is Elizabeth1 because the original portrait was lost in the fire I think. Good call on it.

[aliceemocullen]

Wow, I think it IS Elizabeth. It's kind of creepy how the portraits look almost the same.

[Hlejames]

Neither of these are contemporary, right?

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@Hlejames There are no contemporary images of Anne Boleyn, although that one (the NPG one) is 16th century so was painted within living memory of her. The Elizabeth one was painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger who painted quite a few portraits of Elizabeth I during her lifetime. This one may have been painted after her death, as she does look rather old and frail and Elizabeth wouldn't have liked that image, but he knew the Queen and what she looked like.

[ZZZANNAMARIYZZZ]

Certainly Is Anne Boleyn's Famous Portrait Actually Elizabeth I because Anne was Elizabeth's mother Why they should not be similar?

I'm sorry for possible errors in English grammar

[stefansmom]

it's not only with women my 7 yr old son is identical to my dad at the same age.. it's almost creepy

[rgdjazz]

Nicely presented, Lady Claire.

.....Robert

[QueenRedSnow]

I guess they're similar because they're mother 'n' daughter...

[bmollhag]

I wonder if it is just the style of the day, but doesn't the painting of Elizabeth I look so much more life like than her mothers?

[AnneBoleynFiles]

Just to clarify, I realise that the two women look similar because they are mother and daughter, but I'm making the point that the portraits actually fit over each other and therefore one could be a copy of the other.

[cocatwoman7]

@AnneBoleynFiles wow-you could be spot on! very interesting indeed

[QueenAnneBoleyn1536]

this is Anne...Elizabeth was her daughter...so.....that's why...

[TheMrGobble]

The Anne Boleyn portrait was painted in Elizabeths reign for Elizabeth. No contemporary portrait of Anne existed as were all destroyed by her father. it was based on a lost original and peoples memory of how she looked who had been her contemporaries... It's easy and correct to assume they altered it slightly to make it look more like the Queen.

You get my drift?

[avalon2468]

i look almost identical to my mother in our pictures of the same age that might be it

[indigobluepics]

I knew of the resemblence between these two portraits, but hadn't actually considered that one was based on the other, and since they both date from the same time period, you may actually be onto something here! Good theory!

[MrsPygmypuff20]

I think the noses have a slightly different shape but seeing as they are mother and daughter one would assume there should be a resemblance!

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@MrsPygmypuff20 Elizabeth I was said to have inherited the hooked Beaufort nose so that could by why the noses are slightly different.

[MrsPygmypuff20]

@AnneBoleynFiles Agreed with you there, you do have a point though the portraits are indeed similar!!

[Razordolly7]

AB was Elizabeth's mother - you'd expect some sort of family resemblance, wouldn't you? Doh!

[AnneBoleynFiles]

@Razordolly7 Well, yes, of course, but I'm actually making the point that they are the same portrait as they fit very neatly on top of each other.

[Danny30011980]

@Razordolly indeed. Plus, why did the sitter (Anne) on the famous portrait have brown and not red hair. neither have I ever seen any picture of Elizabeth wearin the pearl necklace with the B for Boleyn on it. I'm not sure if whether her father's lifetime she could have worn it, which would her identify her with her mother...could have been dangerous