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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Lanre Bakare Arts and culture correspondent

Mystery sitter in Holbein portrait could be Anne Boleyn, AI analysis finds

drawing of a woman in Tudor headgear
Detail from Holbein’s sketch of an unidentified woman, which it is claimed may depict Anne Boleyn. Illustration: © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2026 | Royal Collection Trust

They are two small sketches by the Renaissance master Hans Holbein: one has long been considered to be a portrait of Henry VIII’s doomed second wife, Anne Boleyn, and the other is of an unknown woman whose name was lost to time.

Now researchers using AI have discovered that the unnamed woman might be the tragic queen after all, while the other figure could in fact be Boleyn’s mother.

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