Monday, April 06, 2020

Question from Mia - Anne Boleyn depicted in green

I am looking for information about Anne Boleyn and why she is commonly depicted in green. I find it really interesting and cannot find any definitive information as to why. Thanks for your help anyone who does Kind regards, Mia

3 comments:

Lara said...

Hi Mia - do you mean Anne depicted in fiction or later imagery? The reason I ask is that most of the portraits from the 16th century (although not from her lifetime) seem to mostly depict her in black.

LORETTE said...

Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in yellow clothes. The reactions of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn to the news of the death of Catherine of Aragon. See :
- Letter from Eustache Chapuys to Charles V of January 21: CSP, Spain, 5, 9 et L&P, 10, 141.
- Edward Hall, Chronicles, p. 818.
“Viii. day of January folowyng dyed the princess dowager at Kymbalton and was buried at Peterborough. Quene Anne ware yelowe for the mournyng. And in February folowyng was quene Anne brought a bedde of a childe before her tyme, which was borne dead.”
- Herbert Norris, Tudor Costume and Fashion, chap. The reign of Henry VIII, p. 374.
- Nicholas Sanders, Rise and Growth Of The Anglican Schism, Burns & Oates, 1877, p. 131-132.
- Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII, p. 299 et The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn, 2009, p 18.
- Retha Warnicke, The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn, 1991 et E. Ives, op.cit., p. 300.
- Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII, 1992, p. 228-230.
- Francis Hackett, Henry the Eighth, Liveright, 1929, p. 369.
- David Starkey, Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII, 2003, p. 549-550.
- Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, p. 295.
- Spanish Chronicle :
https://archive.org/stream/chroniclekinghe00humegoog#page/n72/mode/2up, p. 52.
- Sarum Rite : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13479a.htm

Unknown said...

It is insinuated that Anne is the "Lady Greensleeves" the tune purportedly written by Henry to her and would indicate that he had gifted her with, or that she owned a pair of green sleeves. I think this might be why she is often depicted in green. Most of her official portraits have her in black or dark colors. She did reportedly wear yellow after the death of Catherine of Aragon which was the mourning color of Spain.