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Did Hans Holbein the Younger TRICK HENRY VIII by making Anne of Cleves look more beautiful than she really was? That is the charge often levelled at the famed Tudor painter in light of the fact that Henry sent for Anne to become his fourth wife after viewing Holbein’s efforts, only to discover upon meeting the lady that he disliked her so much that he dumped her six months later and had the union annulled, causing a major Tudor scandal. Is it fair to blame Holbein for this marital disaster though and what do we know about how, when and why the portrait was created? In this six wives documentary from History Calling, I share the story behind the painting of this portrait of a Tudor Queen and look at how great of an impact it had on the King’s decision to marry Anne. We’ll also look at what happened to the painting after the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves broke down and how this famous work of art ended up in the Louvre in Paris. We’ll consider too how likely it is that this is a true representation of the face of Anne of Cleves and at whether Henry was angry at Holbein for the painting, or if he blamed his dislike of Anne on factors other than her looks. It is rare for a painting to have such a prominent place in the history of Tudor England, but this image has achieved just that and it changed the course of the life of Anne of Cleves forever.

The podcast episode and documentary I discussed in this video were ‘Anne of Cleves’ (part of the Not Just the Tudors podcast series by Suzannah Lipscomb) and ‘Becoming Anne Boleyn’, also hosted by Suzannah Lipscomb. #ad

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