Despite the evidence you discovered against the image being Anne Boleyn, I think it is visually the closest match I could make out. Thanks, there's a lot of research gone into this!
A very compelling mystery! Obviously I’m not an expert, but to my eye, the mystery woman’s nose shape exactly mirrors Elizabeth’s. It makes more sense to me that the underlying portrait is that of Elizabeth herself, perhaps by a different artist. It was deemed unacceptable and was painted over. That’s my two cents. Thank you for all you do. It is so very fascinating!
Elizabeth would have never covered a rare portrait of her mother. She adored Jane and wouldn’t have hesitated to cover Catherine Howards portrait as her scandalous predecessor 🤷🏼♀️.
I don’t really have a logical reason why, but something about the Holbein sketch has always stood out to me as being a true likeness of Anne Boleyn. Given that so many portraits of her were destroyed, anything labelled as Anne that looks too like Elizabeth I just makes me think it was painted in retrospect based off EIR.
I think the Holbein sketch looks the most like this recreation of the painted over lady, too! All the paintings shown looked like they had much longer faces and almost look more like they're stretched vertically by comparison.
This mystery person is Elizabeth at 10 years of age. It is a Holbein portrait commissioned by Henry in 1543, who had been reconciled to his children through Katherine Parr. Neck ruffles had only just been introduced into fashion because of the need to protect the throat from contagious diseases. Henry may have feared losing his children to the plague and therefore wanted paintings of them. Unfortunately Holbein died in London in 1543 of the plague before he was able to finish the portrait. So Elizabeth painted over a Holbein image of herself at age 10, that today would be worth an absolutely ridiculous fortune.
This makes total sense. And that's why the face looks so similar to Anne Boleyn but different as well....they are mother and daughter after all so of course they would favor one another in appearance in so many ways.
Art historian here. She is most certainly Lettice Knollys. Look at all of the portraits of her. Lettice's mother was Mary Boleyn's daughter, hence Lettice's resemblance to Anne in this hidden portrait. As for the time frame, Lettice married Robert Dudley in 1578 and was subsequently banished from court. There is no good reason for Elizabeth to paint over portraits of her friends, but a rival? Most certainly.
To me, personally, it looks more like Anne Boleyn than any of the other examples you've shown. It quite possibly could have been a recreation. I only say this because of the nose. It's virtually the same as other portraits done of Anne by other artists with the exception of Holbein's. Her right eye matches a little bit, but I'm mainly going by the design of the nose. That nose is not similar to any other example you showed other than Anne and possibly the Elizabeth portrait you showed toward the end. That's just what I think.
I do too and Elizabeth had a prominent nose like Anne only if we saw the fingers of the woman that could have helped tell if it Anne since she liked to show them off
Ann’s lower nose area appears to be hooked outward in the area immediately before the bulb. (The pic of the 2 women together). Maybe it’s a shadow. I’ve read many accounts of QEI’s affection & loyalty toward her sister who allegedly had one or two children by Henry before Ann came along. The son was often with QEI & she did all she could for the sister & daughter. I’m sure there aren’t any portraits of those people for comparison. HENRY CARREY pos 1/2 brother
I'm confused a little. We don't have any paintings of Anne from her time. We don't know the Hever or any other is accurate. Is it the stance of this channel that they believe one of them is accurate? Sorry to bug you all. Just trying to understand. Have a great day!
@@LaPetiteBoulin well, anything is possible. I wonder if, when the floor was repaired in the chapel, tissue samples were taken. It’s possible because there were 2 female bodies in the vault & there were questions about which was Ann’s & which was Katherine Howard (wife 5). If there’s saved tissue, there’s a chance that a DNA picture profile could be made. It’s done now in law enforcement with great accuracy.
My Daughter,studied in London and when visiting her I went to The Tower of London where Anne is buried in the chapel there, you can’t help the sadness that overcomes you while there! Henry the 8th was a monster who only believed a son could follow his reign and yet it was Anne’s daughter who would have an historic Reign!
Henry probably would not have been seen as a monster for the time in which he lived (he would be seen as a monster, no doubt, today). But he was not a monster for wanting a male heir. Kings without male heirs had a greater chance of being overthrown, and Henry wanted his Tudor lineage to continue, which he would have rationally concluded could only reliably happen with a male heir. We forget, but all Kings and Queens of the time lived in fear of losing the throne, being murdered, etc. Their main driving force was staying on the throne (even true today of the Windsors), and a male heir at the time was a vital piece of that effort. While Elizabeth I turned out to be one of England's truly great rulers, no one would have predicted that in advance, rather on the contrary. Almost all would have assumed that only a male could stay on the throne.
I believe it's Anne. It may not make perfect sense but the uncanny likeness can't be ignored. As soon as I saw the recreation, I instantly remembered who it looked like. It was so cool I kinda got the chills. This is really a special find. Anne deserved to be remembered and she is definitely remembered today. With fondness
Artists paint over paintings they're not happy with. Maybe the subject didn't pay the artist for his work. Who Knows as there could be many reasons for paintings under paintings.
Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose. As an artist with a history degree myself, I often paint over old works that I don't like anymore or didn't turn out the way I wanted. It saves on materials and I already have a reference to work off of for my next piece.
I agree. Most likely the artist had painted the first portrait and for some reason whoever commissioned it would not or could not pay him for it and so he just repurposed the wood when commissioned to paint a picture for the queen. Of course this is a most unwelcome answer as it makes identifying the first woman almost impossible, as it would mean that the woman had nothing to do with the queen and had probably never even been to court. That said, she looks like a woman that I have seen in real life.
This is a simple case of an artist reusing a panel. You keep saying "Elizabeth resued it" but the queen did not choose the wood panels on which artists painted. This painting is also almost certainly not from life, but from a template, and was produced in an artist's workshop to meet the demand for portraits of Elizabeth for the nobility or merchant class who could afford to hang a portrait of the queen in their homes as a way to show their loyalty. Elizabeth did not dit for this painting and almost certainly never saw it.
This is amazing! I’m curious, do you think it’s possible it was a younger version of Queen Elizabeth herself, redone later, in an updated style, for some unknown reason? While she does look like Anne, in my opinion I instantly saw a resemblance to other paintings of Queen Elizabeth herself. I know you mentioned it but to me she looks closest to both women- which would make sense had she been much younger
@@RoyaltyNowStudiosAmazing and interesting video (as always). ^^ I did some research as well cause I was interested too. More so on the panels. It's 2 wooden panels with one being roughly 341mm wide. It's wider than the typical range for Baltic panels which had suggested that it's unlikely that it had been trimmed. You can see the split best at the top near Elizabeth's rose on her headpiece. You can also notice that the woman underneath is perfectly within the larger panel and not cut. So originally she was meant to be on the larger one before the painting of Elizabeth. Sapwood was found on the edges of both panels which came from 2 different trees. Tree rings now. The last tree rings on panel A (left side, front view) are from 1564. Panel B (right side, larger panel) is from 1567. Queen Elizabeth the 1st would've been in her 30's (31-35 y.o.) when they were cut down. Which would fit your suggestion that the original painting might've been done when she was 6-8 yrs younger than the portrait we see in front of us. They said the "first" use of the panels were between 1572-1582 so she would've been roughly 40-50 y.o. I believe the larger panel was used earlier than that. So 6-8 yrs younger respectively she'd be 32-34 or 42-44 y.o. I believe the woman in the background IS Elizabeth perhaps in her image of herself in her early 30's or it was originally painted when she was in her 30's. (Given from when the trees were cut down). Clearly the younger woman was painted by a different artist (who was incredible * I'm speechless). Maybe that artist had died of a sickness and couldn't finish the painting. So another artist combined another panel of the same wood type but of course a new sapwood would be added around the entire 2 panels. So the new artist painted an older Queen Elizabeth in her late 40's early 50's. Elizabeth resembles her mother a lot and her aunt except for her nose. That's why I feel it's Elizabeth in the background too because her nose is the same and her small lips (not really an upper lip). I apologize for the extremely long comment. This was fascinating to look into though. ^^ Thank you.
Another fascinating video. To me, painting over a portrait is equivalent to erasing the former, so I would expect it would be of someone with whom Elizabeth had a falling out
I agree! I really thought I was onto something with the Lettice Knollys portrait...but it doesn't look like her at all :( That was about to be some spicy history
@@RoyaltyNowStudios I think that makes a lot of sense that it was someone she didn't like or saw as a rival. If not Lettice Knolly it would be fascinating to know who🤔
If it was painted over, it seems logical to me that it would be someone Elizabeth didn’t like, or that the artist deemed less important, or the lady couldn’t, or didn’t want to, finish the portrait. Disease was rife in those times, let alone the dangers of childbirth. So I think either Elizabeth either loved this lady, and wasn’t averse to keeping her close, or she hated the lady, and covering her with her own portrait, was a kind of snarky, “I won”, victory symbol.
The lady in the portrait might have been a distant cousin of Elizabeth’s. Her Stepmother/Cousin Katherine Howard was not an only child, so the subject might have been a one these individuals or an adult child of one. This would explain the resemblance to Katherine. Without more information all we can do is speculate how the the unfinished portrait became the basis for Elizabeth’s.
I was wondering the same thing! Maybe they didn't like the draft or went in a different direction for the original portrait and the artist reused the half done canvas for Elizabeth's portrait later? Hmmm
My immediate reaction to the recreation was that it looked like Catherine Howard. Perhaps this lady is a Boleyn/Howard relative? They had many. The nose looks very similar to Elizabeth in the x-ray image.
For me, it think it may be Anne Boleyn. The features appeared closest to hers when looking through the other comparisons you presented. A theory as to why it may have been used (though possibly wrong 😅) could have dealt with knowing the images of her mother were being destroyed and she saved that one and had her own image painted over it, possibly in a thought of protecting something of her mother’s. Granted, I acknowledge she would have had no idea we would ever be able to see the image below, but possibly at that time it was her own subtle way of protecting and keeping something of her mother close to her. She would have probably known what it looked like prior so each time she would have seen the art of herself, instead of seeing herself she would see her mother.
She was only a toddler when her mother died. By the time she had the portrait painted there would have been no need for secrecy. I personally think its Catherine Howard and Elizabeth merely re-used a panel that didn't really mean much to her
Honestly, when you first showed your recreation, it reminded me so much of Catherine Howard, though I don’t think it’s her. The resemblance is uncanny, though.
I think it is a portrait of Anne Boleyn which was painted after her death. The ressemblance with the Hever Castle portrait is amazing (especially the eyes and the long nose). It doesn't surprise me that it ressembles Catherine Howard, too, as she was a close relative of Anne.
You make History real. Tangible, available, relatable and put it in a context that is accessible in a modern world...thank you for your work. Invaluable.
Excellent! Your recreations are beautiful and your voice is so soothing to hear. Impressed with the info you found during research. Thank you for this.
I do not believe the image is a 10 year old girl. It is so difficult to determine what they really looked like but whoever is, the artist appears to be very gifted. Those eyes are striking.
I know it sounds crazy, but could it be that someone commissioned a portrait for Elizabeth of Anne, looking as though she was still alive? A well meaning gift that ended up being in poor taste, and scrapped? Just like your recreations in modern dress, could this have been a recreation for Anne? Makes one wonder....
Putting a lot of faith in comparison portraits being accurate likenesses for ruling out matches, especially given how different the Anne Boleyn portraits look. But a fun and intriguing video, as always. 🙂👍
That was my thought. It's so hard to fully trust the features in these portraits, between stylization, skill & flattery. Something that really stands out (ex. a hooked nose) might be enough to rule someone out, but otherwise? Hard to say.
I can honestly say this is going to drive me nuts. I also think it looks a bit like Catherine Howard, but I also had wondered if it could be somehow be Mary Queen of Scotts. It's just too exciting in any case.
From what I have learned over many years is that the painting shown is likely not of Anne Boleyn. The experts just don’t know. Thank for another interesting video.
I have to wonder at subtle messages, sent from the artists, who painted over one piece of art for another. I am an artist and I've re-used canvases (they can be expensive!). Though, as a landscape artist, the opportunity for messages to the future is, sadly, limited. Thank you for this video and all your work. It was very interesting. I watched it before I'd even fixed my morning coffee and there are very few channels that produce that kind of anticipation, in me.
My vote is for an early sketch of Elizabeth! I doubt if Elizabeth herself would have had any say over which canvas was used, I reckon she probably didn’t know/care about the painting underneath. Even if artists re-used canvases regularly, I wonder if they would be wary of which ones they would use as the basis of a portrait of the Queen. They might consider it disrespectful to reuse a portrait of a lady in waiting, let alone a potential rival of the Queen. Barring any religious imagery, I feel like only another portrait which would be appropriate to repurpose would be of Elizabeth herself. Great video, looking forward to watching your others!
I can't tell you how excited I am to see this video!!! I absolutely scoured the web to find any cases for this painting and xray and there are so few. I love this channel and all the wonderful work you do!!
In my opinion the picture inside is Ann Boleyn. Your recreation is beautiful. The clothing period could have been changed to throw off in case someone discovered her secret.
I have nothing to add, as to who it might have been. However, the original portrait, although heavily obscured, stuns me with its apparent natural look. So much of portraiture of that time, especially of important people, was so highly stylized in respect to the beauty standards of the day, or to make some point about the person depicted. It was so much more representative-but the obscured portrait immediately feels so much more lifelike and intimate. It feels very special to me, because of its apparent intimacy and naturalness.
This looks SO much like all the other images of Anne, it’s hard to believe that it could be anyone else. It’s also insane to see how much more detailed portraits are just a generation after Anne’s time
I can see this being Catherine Howard, especially given the resemblance. Rather than being deliberately painted over on order of Elizabeth, here's what I think is a more likely scenario. A royal painter was in the process of painting a portrait of Katherine when she fell out of favor. The artist quickly painted over the partially finished panel, and chucked it in a storeroom. Years later, the less talented artist painting Elizabeth, working out of the same studio, found the old panel sitting in storage and repurposed it for the new painting of the queen.
I absolutely love your channel and recommended to everybody I know. I love the idea of combining history with the artistic expression. If history could be this amazing in school, imagine how excited and engaged children would be.
Sometimes things don’t make sense. I’m so in love with how you share! I believe it’s her though (Anne) or Catherine. If you’ve studied Anne for 20 years you can look and know. Sometimes these things don’t make sense. It has Anne’s features on a more basic level: commanding eyes, resemblance to Elizabeth, dark eyes that can command room, the long nose, etc. I think its her or Catherine Howard & I agree the resemblance to Katherine is striking. You’re the best. I’ve been a retoucher for almost two decades & have also studied Anne for same. I’ve even sculptured and digitally recreated her myself from the ring portrait. You’re the best recreator there is. Compare the portrait of this possible Anne to your other recreations of her x
Another fantastic video! Like others here, I look forward to your videos and love when one pops up in my email inbox. I don't want to muddy any waters, and of course there's probably no way of ever proving it, but perhaps Elizabeth had given birth to a daughter and this painting was commissioned by Elizabeth as a way of keeping her daughter close in mind since she couldn't physically? It's entirely possible the girl could have looked very similar to Anne yet appears in updated clothing styles. Elizabeth wouldn't have wanted her daughter to go through what she had gone through as Queen... the intrigue, the assassination fears, the inability to marry for love, etc. so the daughter was lost to history. All fun conjecture to go with such a marvelously told mystery!!!
To me, she resembles her mom, Anne Boleyn. Many of her portraits were destroyed, yes, but maybe Anne wanted to be side by side with her mom, to be close to her.
I think it’s Anne. My theory is that Elizabeth may have found an unfinished portrait starter of her mother and decided to have someone finish it. Then, because Anne Boleyn may have been still controversial at the time, Elizabeth decided to preserve her mother’s memory by keeping this portrait to herself by painting her own on it. I don’t know if that makes any sense 😅
The amount of time and effort you put into these videos is to be commended. Anne has always been a personal hero of mine. She went to her death innocent of the crimes she was accused of.
Although the woman does appear to have a striking resemblance to Anne, has anyone considered the possibility of maybe Elizabeth having an unknown child? Maybe she had had a daughter of which no one at the court knew anything of in order to preserve her reputation.
I read a book a few years ago called The Secret of the Virgin Queen, written by an ex-police officer. He put forward a theory that teenaged Elizabeth gave birth to a child in secret, and that child was called Dorothy Latimer. If you google Dorothy you will find a portrait of a young woman who looks remarkably like both Elizabeth and Anne. This could be a portrait of her, she looks very similar to this recreation. It's an interesting book, not sure if I'm convinced but it was enjoyable.
Wow, I had never heard of this! But I dont think it is Anne. Perhaps a lady who fell out of favour? Like the two remaining Grey sisters perhaps. An other spicy candidate would be Mary queen of Scots. Although I do not believe it is her. My best bet is Katherine or Mary Grey.
Fascinating! I loved this so much. You are so talented. Wow, how talented. I don't have a bit of it in me so I admire yours so much. Much respect. Thank you so much. This was great with my morning coffee.
I would think any resemblance to Anne Boleyn might be because the lady in the painting was a relative. Given she looks a lot like Catherine Howard also, then perhaps the answer lies in the Howard family. Anne Boleyn’s mother was a Howard.
Ok wow, more of these kinds of videos please!!! While I love the long informative videos, this is probably one of my new favourites amongst your videos! Keep it up :) (also, I don’t know if you take suggestions, but I would love to see a video on Wu Zetian)
Hello, I just recently started watching your channel, and as an artist I can say I love what you do. I went back and watched some of your videos a couple years old, and great to see the evolution of your channel. So it’s great to see how you are recreating these images, but also how you recreate yourself as you go. Great work. I will continue to watch and enjoy. Thank you
I can't remember her name, and I don't know much about the title she held but there was a woman that was very close to Elizabeth I who had the title called the Gentlewoman. I came across this years ago there was even a portrait. from what i can remember the woman was dressed in male courtley fashion but her features had some similarities.
I believe it was an earlier portrait of Elizabeth the first. The lady in hidden portrait has distinctive eyebrows which make her look not like Elizabeth the first, but otherwise she is very similar including the dark eyes and the prominent nose. Elizabeth the first lost her eyebrows when she was ill with smallpox at age twenty nine. She may have had the earlier portrait of herself painted over with a new one to reflect the change in her appearance, or because she simply did not like the earlier portrait, or because of a falling out with the artist. In any case it makes sense that she would have looked a lot like her mother Anne Boleyn.
Acho incrível o fato de se descobrir desenhos por baixo de pinturas, imagine quantas outras obras guardam esse tipo de segredo. Obrigado por sua pesquisa e vídeo.❤👏
I’m mostly wondering what the motive for the hidden portrait would’ve been. Was Elizabeth’s spiteful intention to paint over someone else, or to honor this person? I feel like it must be the latter.
The image bears a striking resemblance to Anne Boleyn, but to me, it seems unlikely that her daughter would decide to paint over a picture of her deceased mother, especially if they didn't have many paintings of her. My theory is that back then, canvas were expensive to produce. So, instead of discarding or burning Anne Boleyn's pictures, they may have painted over the canvas with black or white paint to reuse them. By chance, one artist took such canvas and painted Elizabeth's picture.
Another great video. Personally, I don't think it's Anne Boleyn. IMO, there is no reason for Elizabeth, that late in her reign, to hide a portrait of her mother. She had been on the throne long enough that all of Anne's enemies were dead or so ancient it didn't matter. Elizabeth could have had a portrait of her mother painted and had her entire court curtsey and bow before it and they would have complied. For all we know, it's the wife or daughter of the artist-a woman unknown to history.
Looks wise I think you could argue either woman, however I lean more toward Anne Boleyn rather than one of Elizabeth's ladies of the bedchamber, even though the clothing style was not in fashion in Anne's time as you pointed out. I find it interesting how older portraits were often painted over. I wonder if it was because the original subject fell out of courtly favor, alone? I can't imagine why anyone would paint over a professional portrait for any other reason. 🤔
Fascinating, love the way you use your time! Also, at this point, I feel my pulse rise markedly whenever you say the word "now"😅 Classical conditioning!
I don't think this is Anne. In examining the X-ray portrait, the hidden woman seems to have lighter eyes when you look at her left eye. It's very different from, and much lighter in color than Elizabeth's eye directly below it. In fact, the hidden woman's eye is so light you can distinguish between the pupil and the iris very clearly. While there is some speculation on Elizabeth's eye color, Anne's eyes were described as having 'eyes which were black and beautiful'. Looking at the difference in the hidden eye, I personally would rule her out. However, with Elizabeth's eye color, many stated they were dark, but some also said they were grey or hazel. With the known fading of the blue pigments used in some of her portraits and the fact many of her paintings are copied or inspired by other portraits/paintings of Elizabeth, the eye color of Elizabeth remains in question. This makes it hard to potentially rule out Elizabeth yet. Although, she was well known for rejecting any image of her that she did not like, and had them destroy the work, or redo it. The likeness in many ways to Anne, and Elizabeth makes it easy to wonder if it might not be a disliked portrait of Elizabeth that was restarted at her command, or even perhaps, though unlikely, another Boleyn female.
Interesting, but that looks more like Catherine Howard before she plucked her eyebrows to me. It's a portrait of a young girl, not a woman in her thirties. Scientific dating, while much more accurate than it once was, isn't always exact and they could be wrong. It could also be a Boleyn or Howard relative, whose name is lost to history who resembled her.
Before I even saw your recreation, I felt it looked very much like Anne. When I saw your recreation, I got goosebumps! Imo, this is Anne Boleyn. Thank you for doing so much research! I’m thrilled with this finding!
I feel Elizabeth had the vision to have someone paint a newer version of her mother in the clothing of her era. So that she could see an updated version of Anne and what she’d look like. The trickery to the photo trying not to link her mother to it was maybe just to fool people or disguise her.
Queen Elizabeth adored her mother despite Anne's image after the beheading. In most cultures it's a sign of disrespect to remove one's ancestral image. I believe instead Elizabeth did was want something to remember her mother by and had Anne's face painted over herself showing yes, I rule in my father's image, but my mother is still a part of me.
I'd really like to think it was Anne Boleyn . But with the wood being of later date it doesnt seem likely as no way would Elizabeth at this stage hide her or rather being painted over
Maybe QE wanted an image of how her Mum might have looked if she was still alive, and then after seeing it, she was sad that her Mum wasn't still with her. They didn't have the luxury that we do now of digital photos (which we are so familiar with). Or... it scared the bejeezus out of her, so she wanted it painted over... Pretty sure her Mother's family would have paintings of her female relatives to go by... or maybe an older artist who knew Anne and her family... Definitely reminds me of her Mum though...
what I find really haunting is that the portrait underneath looks more advanced as a technique. Makes me wonder if they wanted that editing technique in purpose to look like aliens rather than humans.
It wasn't enough that King Henry murdered Anne, he also had her official portraits destroyed too. So nobody really know how Anne Boleyn looks for sure. The only way to find out is if we could somehow recover her skull and do a forensic reconstruction of her face.
This is a great analysis. Thanks. The x-ray dual image itself is fascinating. I wonder if Elizabeth commissioned it as a youthful portrait of her mother Anne (based on the Holbein sketch and other portraits) so that she could know her better. Possible? But we all have to be careful about the conclusions that we hope for. My own bias stems from tracing my family tree back to Mary Boleyn as my 13th great-grandmother (and arguably Henry VIII as my my 13th GGF). Fun stuff. Good excuse to get to know the Tudors.
To my eyes, the hidden painting looks like Queen Elizabeth I, but in her teens, or early 20s. I see her nose, the bump and crook exactly the same, but at a different angle than the current painting. She also seemed to have had fuller brows in the hidden painting, a sign of her youth when the painting was done. It makes much more sense to me, that she would be covering a painting of herself, that perhaps she didn't care for. She was Queen, why would she cover a painting to preserve it, even if of her mother? Wouldn't hiding it, burying it, or even just handing it off to someones hands, be better?
I do believe it is Anne Boleyn. Her features look as she is described. Elizabeth could’ve wanted a painting of her mother with contemporary clothing, maybe just as an experiment. Maybe she wanted someone to paint her mother to more of her liking and as the Queen that she could’ve been, but then changed her mind and didn’t want the painting to be discovered.
The artist who painted the woman underneath is it the same artist painting Elizabeth? The woman underneath looks much better realized than the stylized Elizabeth. The panel might have been indeed Ann but the artist might have taken liberty with the clothes before the whole thing was scrapped (Elizabeth might have changed her mind) and reused to paint the daughter. Good work❤
I do think it is Anne. They tried to hide all evidence of her existence, and perhaps Elizabeth didn’t even know that the old painting was there at all…a later portrait may have been commissioned or started by the artist, and because of the controversy, not put into circulation, and later covered over. Keep in mind that a current artist might have used current fashions on an older subject.
To me personally, the resemblance with Queen Anne Boleyn is very much possible. Thank you for your research and for your videos, they are always interesting and fascinating
What a fascinating mystery!!! To me she looks most like Anne Boleyn but I understand why that is problematic. Thank you again for a wonderful recreation. ❤
Btw, this reminds me a bit about paintings of ancient people that looks like some of today's Hollywood actors and actresses. It's also a possibility that that unfinished painting is done based on someone similar to the late Anne Boleyn. Maybe there were people at that time who knows Anne Boleyn that remarks he similarity, and then Queen Elizabeth decided to hire a painter to make a new painting of Anne Boleyn, but then changed her mind due to some political consideration and stopped the painting unfinished.
That the portrait was painted over suggests it is of someone who became dramatically out of favour at court. It could well be Anne Boleyn as the artist would not necessarily have informed Elizabeth of the underlying portrait when turning up with a blank canvas.
I think it’s a lovely reconstruction. I’m not an artist, but if I may add, I don’t feel like you got the sadness in the woman’s eyes and there’s a bit of a smile on your reconstruction where it appears that in the Portrait, albeit it’s hard to see, but woman’s face looks fairly sad to me. I’m not sure why. Her nose also has a little more of a hook to it. In my opinion, it only fits Anne. Perhaps the artist was simply trying to re-create something from their own memory of her? I feel like it could it have been a portrait of Elizabeth that the artist simply didn’t like the way it was looking? It’s a beautiful work and thank you. I appreciate it and the diving into history was great, too.
Given how expensive the materials are and the time it takes to produce it, the panel is bound to be a recycled one. It has to be a portrait that was no longer required or couldn’t be paid for. It is likely the sitter is either dead or has fallen from favour. It could equally be that the artist was using an apprentices work. The sitter may actually be of someone of very much lower status. If you’re an artist painting the queen you’d not only have to be accurate you’d have to get something together fast and that would make reusing a board much much more attractive. Boards can warp too so if you’ve got an old one that remained stable for a while, you’d use that over a new one. In short, I don’t think she’s a ‘hidden’ portrait. It’s just good business practice. And she’s not likely too important.
I agree with you, it's not Anne Boleyn.. however, I do see how it could be Russell or Radcliffe. Could it be Elisabeth of Austria, the Queen of France ..found a portrait of her circa 1571, with an uncanny resemblance in terms of that expression, a countenance of guile, or ...?!
