The Arrest of Anne Boleyn

Added 1567957226 by Petedartist.

As the palace at Greenwich no longer exists, I had to imagine the location.

The three judges at the back are based on Holbein's pictures of the Duke of Norfolk, Sir William Fitzwilliam and Sir William Paulet.

The costume of the Yeoman of the Guard is reasonably accurate consisting of a green and white tunic with a rose emblem, rather than the red and black design worn at the Tower of London, today.

The book Anne is dropping is modelled on her Book of Hours which still survives, the necklace she wears with the H and A motif, is also from Holbein.

I struggled at first with Anne’s dress, it had many incarnations from red and black velvet with borders of pearls and jewels, to a single gold leaf panel at the front. In the end I decided to paint the dress in green velvet and gold, including acorns and oak leaves which were also her emblems. I based it on the priest’s clothes which can be seen in my painting of Aethelflaed bringing the bones or St Oswald to Gloucester.