Only one of Henry VIII’s wives had no life portrait taken, and she is the most famous of them all, Anne Boleyn.

Historians have had to rely on a handful of later portraits and they depict her as a dark manipulator who drove the monarch to break with Rome.

Now, 30 years after a Holbein portrait in the Royal Collection was demoted to the status of an unknown lady from the court of Henry VIII, new research has reinstated it as a contemporary depiction of the king’s second wife.

The picture, circa 1530, is inscribed with her name but scholars had refused to believe it was her. A coat of arms on the reverse related to the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, suggesting that the sitter was a member of his family. Also, such early inscriptions have often proved incorrect.

There was further nervousness because the sitter’s auburn hair did not fit with contemporary descriptions of Boleyn’s dark complexion or the dark hair depicted in later portraits.

Academics have now traced the inscription to Boleyn’s contemporary, Sir John Cheke, who began his career at the court under her patronage, before becoming secretary to Edward VI. A document of about 1590 notes that Sir John inscribed numerous Holbeins for the King, helping to identify faces of royals and courtiers.

Bendor Grosvenor, who carried out the research with David Starkey, the Tudor historian, said: “Cheke was one of the bright brains of the Tudor court. He would have known most of Holbein’s sitters, if not on personal terms, then at least visually . . . It seems inconceivable that he would get Anne’s identification wrong.”

Boleyn was Hans Holbein’s first royal patron. He designed an arch for her coronation and jewellery for her to wear.

Mr Grosvenor, who works at Philip Mould Historical Portraits, London, said: “It is inconceivable that she did not at some point sit for her portrait.”

Dismissing the Wyatt coat-of-arms as a doodle, he said that as a male insignia, it would be strange to make it fit the identity of a woman. He also noted that one later portrait showed her with lighter hair.

The drawing appears to be a most unqueenly portrait, as the sitter is wearing a nightgown. Mr Grosvenor said: “Only a woman of the highest rank would have taken such a liberty in court circles.” The chin also seems swollen, which fits descriptions of her face.

The drawing forms part of an exhibition of Tudor portraits at Philip Mould Historical Portraits. Lost Faces runs until Sunday, with the research published in the catalogue. The Royal Collection accepted that the portrait was of Boleyn.

Henry’s second

-Anne Boleyn was lady-in-waiting to Catherine, Henry VIII’s first wife

-She married Henry in 1533 while she was pregnant with Elizabeth

-Her inability to produce a male heir led Henry to believe his marriage was cursed

-She was charged with adultery and incest and beheaded in 1536

Source: Britannica

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