Overview
- University of Bradford researchers published Monday in npj Heritage Science that a Holbein sketch long labeled Anne Boleyn likely shows her mother, Elizabeth Howard.
- The team’s analysis indicates a separate Holbein drawing titled An Unidentified Woman is a closer match for Anne Boleyn based on facial structure and period eyewitness descriptions.
- Using the AdaFace deep-learning model, the Unidentified Woman drawing scored 76.9% similarity to a youthful portrait of Elizabeth I, a level the authors say fits close biological kin.
- The Royal Collection Trust notes doubts about the old inscription-based label yet cites costume details and possible hair pigment loss as reasons the traditional identification persisted.
- The study stresses that only about 14.8% of Holbein’s 85 Royal Collection sketches have firm contemporary IDs and argues biometric tests can guide, rather than replace, archival and art-historical review.