By Heather R. Darsie, JD
After decades of being on display at the renowned Louvre Museum in Paris, the dark, shadowy portrait of Anna of Cleves has been restored.
The portrait was executed by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1539. An eager Henry VIII of England sent the German master to the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg to take an image of Anna von der Mark, second eldest daughter of the deceased Duke Johann III of Cleves. As Henry’s minister Thomas Cromwell wrapped up marital negotiations, Anna’s brother Duke Wilhelm V relented to allowing Henry to have an idea of what his future bride looked like.
Holbein arrived in the United Duchies, after which he was dispatched to Burgau Castle in the wealthy duchy of Jülich. There he met a young woman in her early twenties, who was rather tall and a bit curvy. She had romantically hooded eyes and a distinct mouth shape. She might have born a small scar on her forehead from a row with her elder sister Sybylla when they were children. She possibly had a few scars from her bout of small pox as a child, too.
This woman, Anna von der Mark, Hereditary Duchess of Jülich, Cleves, and Berg, was dressed in a brilliant red velvet gown with full sleeves and skirts. The skirts did not have a train on them. She wore the traditional headcovering that was popular at the time. It was adorned with jewels and pearl embroidery, showing the wealth of her family. She wore thick gold chains and multiple rings, no doubt some were family heirlooms. One of the rings appears to be a diamond in the shape of a pyramid, which she later bequeathed to her younger sister Amalia.
Anna, who was so full of hope that day, had no way of knowing that within a year, everything would fall apart. But the tale of her brother’s foolish machinations and Anna falling by the wayside is for another time.
With the gorgeous restoration of the Holbein portrait, one gains a full sense of how colorful early modern portraiture was, not to mention how lovely Anna appeared. Although Henry VIII had to claim that he was not attracted to Anna as a basis for their annulment (instead of divorce), one can easily see that Anna was a natural beauty. The freshly-cleaned portrait reveals details to the viewer, such as her pretty complexion and elegant hands. Her hazel-brown eyes are finally easy to see, too. She may have even had a beauty mark by the left corner of her mouth, judging by the faint dot that one sees there.
On her headdress, the happy motto of, “a bon fine”, a common embroidery motif in 16th century Germany, can be seen. It means, “to a happy end”, which Anna certainly felt around this time in her life. As she had bragged to her brother Wilhelm and sister Amalia, who were still living in the United Duchies, she was going to be queen of an entire country, outdoing even their elder sister.
Looking closely at the headdress, we see on her left side a large, intricate jewel. It is made of gold beads, pearls, and gemstones. It has an almost anchor-like shape, with rectangular gold beads dangling from it. If one looks closely, they can see a pair of very small male and female figures. The figures bear as much of a resemblance to Henry and Anna as possible for the size of the painting.
Anna’s white shirt, embroidered with pearls, might have been a favorite of hers. She wore the same shirt in the Rosenbach portrait, executed in around 1538. Anna, who had learned to sew and embroider, might have proudly embroidered the shirt herself. Thanks to the restoration, the pearls on Anna’s embroidered shirt and adorning her gown now look so real that it’s almost as if one could pluck a pearl out of the portrait.
The Louvre has done a fabulous, exemplary job showing us Hans Holbein the Younger’s skill and Anna’s beauty almost five hundred years later. Should you have the chance to visit the Louvre, be sure to say hello to the first German queen of England in room 809.
Sources & Suggested Reading
- Darsie, Heather R. Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sister. Stroud: Amberley Publishing (2019).
- Darsie Heather R. Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings. Stroud: Amberley Publishing (2023).
- Louvre Museum. “Portrait d’Anne de Clèves (1515-1557), reine d’Angleterre, quatrième épouse de Henri VIII ». https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010062615
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