Houbraken, Jacob (after Hans Holbein the Younger)
Ann Bullen, Queen of King Henry VIII
1738
Anne Boleyn (around 1501–1536) secretly married King Henry VIII in 1532, becoming his second queen. Boleyn was described as having a long neck, wide mouth and beautiful eyes, features that come to the fore in Jacobus Houbraken’s engraving. In 1536, Boleyn was found guilty of high treason and beheaded at the Tower of London. Houbraken alludes to her historic fate through decorative elements at the bottom of the print: a putto covers the Queen’s head and the execution axe.