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The Courtship of Anne Boleyn
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This painting shows King Henry VIII of England and his mistress, Anne Boleyn. Henry fell in love with Anne, Queen Catherine’s lady-in-waiting, and divorced his Spanish wife so that he could marry her. To the left of Henry and Anne, the ambassador from Spain expresses his disgust as he watches the king carry out his affair in public. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze was a supporter of the American and German revolutions and may have painted King Henry’s infamous betrayal to show his distaste for royalty.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineThe Courtship of Anne Boleyn. 1846. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, born Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany 1816-died Washington, DC 1868. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase. CC0.
