I have shared a few duplicates of the Bruyn portrait before, but I thought I would dedicate a post to images of Anna after her death.
For some reason there is a belief that there was no interest in Anna by anyone in England either while she was alive and in the the centuries after. This is often used to prove a painting to be not only authentic but by a master.
But it is not as simple as that. Especially not of this era.
Anyone who has used any of the Trachtenbucher know very well how many figures were copied and to varying degrees of accuracy.
Personal books could also contain a great number of copies of portraits from print or paint and could even be commissioned by the artist.
Where an artist is unfamiliar with a style of dress worn by the sitter they can at times use what is familiar to them.
But as far as suggesting there was no interest in Anna is to ignore the number of reproductions clearly marked as her.
The National Portrait Gallery website alone has several copies:
- Anne of Cleves by Wenceslaus Hollar, after Hans Holbein the Younger etching, 1648, NPG D11254
- Anne of Cleves by F. Patton, after Hans Holbein the Younger line engraving, probably 18th century, NPG D24187
- Anne of Cleves by Cornelis Martinus Vermeulen, after Adriaen van der Werff, after Hans Holbein the Younger, line engraving, published 1707, NPG D10541, NPG D10542 , NPG D10543
- Louise of Savoy engraved as as Katherine of Aragon; Jane Seymour; Anne of Cleves; unknown woman engraved as Catherine Howard by John June,line engraving, mid 18th century, NPG D24172
- Anne of Cleves by Jacobus Houbraken, published by John & Paul Knapton, after Hans Holbein the Younger, line engraving, 1740, NPG D24188, NPG D42237, NPG D9087
- Anne of Cleves by T. Woodman, by Henry Mutlow, after Hans Holbein the Younger, line engraving, published 1 August 1784, NPG D10544
- called Anne of Cleves by Francesco Bartolozzi, published by John Chamberlaine, after Hans Holbein the Younger, stipple engraving printed in colours, published 3 June 1796, NPG D19386