B is for Bogus…?
Anne Boleyn by Unknown English artist, oil on panel., 54.3 x 41.6 cm. © The National Portrait Gallery, London
One of the striking things about this portrait of Anne Boleyn is the necklace, the string of pearls with a gold “B” pendant from which there hang three teardrop shaped pearls. It has become a recognisable symbol of the ill-fated queen, recreated for film and television dramatisations of her life and available to buy as a souvenir from gallery and museum gift shops. The online shop of Historic Royal Palaces even claims it was her favourite piece of jewellery. The problem is, there is no evidence that Anne Boleyn ever wore such a necklace, in fact, there are several reasons why it is unlikely this jewel ever existed.
This portrait, of which there are several versions, was painted in the 1580s or 90s, half a century after Anne’s execution in 1536. It has been claimed, or presumed, that it was based on an earlier original painted from life, during her time as queen between 1533 and 1536. Yet there is no hard evidence to support this presumption.
It was painted at a time when Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth I, was well into her successful reign, permitting a renewed interest in and acceptance of her once disgraced mother. In the late 16th century there also emerged a growing market for historical royal portraits such as this one. In the Elizabethan era, long galleries were a fashionable feature of country houses. These galleries were on the first floor and wealthy families could entertain and impress their guests by taking walks along the gallery, enjoying outside views to one side, and the family’s art collection on the other. Typically the collection would include family portraits as well as sets of royal families and monarchs. Portraits such as this one were sought after, and multiple copies of it exist, each with the “B” necklace helpfully identifying the subject as Anne Boleyn, as opposed to another Anne, Katherine or Jane.
This brings us to the first indication that this necklace is anachronistic, and not something Anne Boleyn would have worn during her time as queen. Why, once married to Henry VIII, of the House of Tudor, would she so strongly assert her maiden name, Boleyn? It makes more sense, however, decades after her death, when she is being remembered as a protagonist in English history who was known as Anne Boleyn for all but three years of her life. Indeed, the “B” necklace becomes a useful identifier of her portrait within a set of six former queens.
Secondly, there is no mention of the “B” necklace in royal inventories. Monogrammed jewellery was popular, and there are records of jewels bearing RA (Regina Anne) and HA (for Henry and Anne) among Anne’s property. Importantly, though, these designs used letters which focused on her first name, her status as queen and her relationship to Henry, not on her maiden name, Boleyn.
Another doubt about the necklace’s authenticity as a jewel worn by Anne Boleyn is connected to its design. The pendants, necklaces and other pieces of jewellery worn by Henry’s wives were usually highly elaborate. Many of them were designed by his court artist, Hans Holbein the Younger, known for his intricate and complex designs. Holbein designed jewellery for Anne, yet it seems unlikely that the simple “B” necklace could have come from his hand.
Perhaps, then, if there was a forerunner to this portrait, it was one of Anne in the days before her marriage, while she was still a Boleyn? If so, it would have to have survived the purge of any materials relating to Anne which Henry ordered after her execution. Virtually all traces of her were removed from royal palaces, and portraits in private hands were destroyed as well, for fear of their owners being branded a traitor, disloyal to a king who few would have wanted to cross.
Could one have survived and been copied, complete with “B” necklace, half a century later? Not entirely impossible, but another hypothesis provides an different and compelling explanation for the source of this portrait. Some academics, including the Yale-based art historian Edward Town, have suggested that the “B” necklace portraits were not based on an earlier image of Anne Boleyn but instead painted to echo the appearance of her daughter, Elizabeth I.
Unlike in the case of her mother, we have many portraits of Elizabeth I painted during her lifetime, each demonstrating distinctive facial features including a sharp chin, smaller mouth and an elongated nose. Features which can also be found in the “B” necklace depictions of Anne. The theory is that portrait artists used the well-known appearance of the reigning Queen Elizabeth as a basis for their depictions of her long-deceased mother, of whom the majority, if not all, known images had been destroyed. There is more than some logic in the idea that the most obvious clue to the appearance of Anne Boleyn was clear for all to see, in the face of her own daughter.
Unless an earlier portrait is uncovered, which can be dated to Anne’s lifetime and which forms an obvious basis for this one, we may never know for sure how this famous portrait was conceived, yet it has become an extremely important depiction of Anne Boleyn’s legend as well as her supposed likeness.
The direct gaze of her eyes towards the viewer show Anne as a woman with her own story to tell; her calm but intense stare inviting the viewer to consider the story of her life and death and her role within a chapter of seismic political change. Dressed in a black gown and hood, her appearance could be seen as mournful, perhaps even a nod to her ultimate condemnation. Alternatively, perhaps the choice to depict her in this severe attire was an effort, during a time where her reputation was improved, but far from fully rehabilitated, to depict her as an ominous and threatening figure. Finally the “B” necklace, imagined or not, is a powerful reminder of her maiden name and individual identity, prompting us to wonder what her fate may have been had she never married Henry at all. It’s a single letter which carries a heavy weight of meaning, and has become, at the very least, a compact visual shortcut to an endlessly intriguging figure.
