Anne Boleyn portrait design work revealed by infrared scans

Anne Boleyn portrait design work revealed by infrared scans

Hever Castle says Boleyn's hands are included to rebut "hostile rumours" she had extra fingers.

Portrait of Anne Boleyn Was Meant to Rebut Rumors That She Was a Witch, Historians Say

A portrait of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s ill-fated second wife, is now thought to be an attempt to rehabilitate her image after her death. Using infrared reflectography, historians and curators have uncovered evidence that the work was at least partially created to dispel rumors that Boleyn was a witch with six fingers. In the painting, which hangs in Hever Castle in England, both of Boleyn’s hands, each with the usual number of digits, are vis…