Description
Here we have a further two portraits – an engraved copy of the portrait of Katherine of Aragon, by an unknown artist, in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery and a copy of Holbein’s c.1533 portrait drawing of an unknown woman, formerly identified as Anne Boleyn, taken from the original chalk drawing in the Royal Collection.
As monarch, Henry’s prime concern was to safeguard the succession by producing a legitimate male heir, but by 1527 his marriage to Katherine of Aragon had failed to produce a son. Henry took this to be a sign of God’s disapproval and looked to the Bible to back his assertion, finding his answer in the Book of Leviticus. His wife was his brother’s widow and such a union was forbidden by God. Henry believed that he should not have married, and indeed, had not married Katherine in the eyes of God, and believed that by removing her, he would be carrying out God’s will.
Henry had also by this time fallen passionately in love with Anne Boleyn, who had arrived at court five years earlier as a Lady in Waiting to Katherine. Anne Boleyn encouraged Henry’s affections but refused to become his mistress and so Henry had set his sights on marriage.
In 1527 Henry asked Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon on the basis that she had not produced a living heir. He then planned to marry Anne Boleyn. Henry’s request was not entirely new – there was an understanding amongst European Monarchs that an heir would be needed to ensure the continuity and stability of a dynasty, and Papal dispensation – allowing a monarch to set aside his first wife and to marry another – had been granted before. But when Henry requested it, Pope Clement refused, concerned that the annulment would undermine papal authority and antagonise Katherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, now the most powerful ruler in Europe.
Henry continued to push for annulment and negotiations continued for several years, but when it became clear that the Pope would not be moved, Henry took steps to restrict the Pope’s power in England. By 1533 – around the time her portrait was taken – Anne was pregnant and Henry married her (whilst still married to Katherine) to ensure the legitimacy of their unborn child (later Queen Elizabeth I). In 1534 Henry declared that he alone should be the final authority in matters relating to the English church.
Learn More / Did you Know
Katherine had previously been married to Henry’s older brother Arthur, before his death in 1502. The marriage was a diplomatic alliance and the pair had been betrothed when Katherine was just three years old. The couple married at Old St Paul’s Cathedral on 15 November 1501. They were married five months before Arthur died of the sweating sickness. Katherine later vowed that the marriage had never been consummated and as a result, Henry and Katherine were granted a papal dispensation, allowing them to marry.
Society Insights
The portrait labelled as Anne Boleyn is a copy of one of the famous series of Holbein drawings in the Royal Collection. The identifications of the sitters were made, according to an inventory reference, at some point later in the sixteenth century from notes left by John Cheke, tutor to Edward VI. Neither this image nor another drawing of an unknown lady, sometimes identified as Anne Boleyn, look like the various painted portraits we have of her, most especially that in the National Portrait Gallery. We know that Holbein painted two of Henry’s queens, Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, but there is no certainty that he ever took a likeness of Anne Boleyn. However the Society’s copy shows the great interest taken in these drawings during the eighteenth century after Queen Caroline (died 1737) had found them in a bureau in Kensington Palace. The Society’s official engraver, George Vertue (1884-1757) had wanted to engrave them but this only happened at the end of the eighteenth century. Compare this image with other likenesses of Anne, ask yourself whether someone so prominent would be represented in a cap like this, and see what you think.
- Maker
- Edmund Lodge (author)
- Production Place
- London, England
- Materials
- Ink on paper
- Date
- 1791
- Date
- 1791