Overview
- Infrared reflectography shows the underdrawing omitted Anne Boleyn’s hands, indicating they were painted in later with five clearly depicted digits.
- Dendrochronology of the oak panel places the work around 1583, firmly within Elizabeth I’s reign and making it the earliest scientifically dated likeness of Anne.
- Historians interpret the addition of hands as a deliberate response to Nicholas Sanders’s claims that Anne had a sixth finger and was a witch.
- The portrait departs from the standardized Tudor “B” pattern—which typically excludes hands—signaling an intentional shift in messaging during production.
- Hever Castle commissioned the Hamilton Kerr Institute to conduct the imaging and analysis, and the research will feature in the 2027 show “Capturing a Queen: The Image of Anne Boleyn.”