Here she is! Anne Boleyn, according to History's portraits, was actually not at all attractive, by today's standards. I guess personality counted for a lot back then! I wonder, however...after her decapitation, she was not well regarded, and I imagine that many portraits of her were destroyed. So then perhaps we are left with those obscure, poorly-painted, reject portraits, or possibly even portraits that were painted purposefully to make her ugly, like this one:
Our modern sense, and some popular novels by Philippa Gregory (and movie starring Natalie Portman), has made our lady Anne into a seductive, sexual entity, who seduced the King, and caused, essentially, England's break from Rome. Whether we imagine her evil, cunning, and ruthless, or frightened, powerless, and a pawn of the men of the Tudor court, she must, of course, be beautiful, and so I have tried to paint her that way. I chose the cunning and seductive version. Enjoy!
