Overview
- The University of Bradford team reported its peer-reviewed findings on Saturday, using machine-learned facial recognition to test Hans Holbein drawings held by the Royal Collection.
- The software compared eyes, noses, and chins across the set and, using known relatives such as Elizabeth I, built a percentage-based “visual family tree” that linked an unlabeled sitter to Anne Boleyn.
- The researchers also argue the long-accepted Holbein sketch labeled as Boleyn more likely shows her mother, Elizabeth Howard.
- Prominent art historians rejected the study, with Dr Bendor Grosvenor calling it “a load of old phooey” and warning that centuries-old drawings cannot be treated like photographs.
- Curator Dr Charlotte Bolland notes there is no confirmed lifetime portrait of Boleyn, which leaves room for new tests but keeps any identification tentative and fuels debate over using this technology on historical art.