Anne Boleyn, Queen of King Henry VIII 1738

Editor: This is Jacobus Houbraken's engraving of Anne Boleyn, Queen of King Henry VIII, housed at the Harvard Art Museums. It feels like a formal portrait, yet there's a darker element with the decapitated head. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Beyond the regal presentation, I see a potent commentary on the perils of female ambition and the brutal consequences of challenging patriarchal power structures. Anne Boleyn's story is a stark reminder of how women's bodies have historically been sites of political control. Do you agree? Editor: Absolutely. The romanticized portrait clashes with the violent imagery below, highlighting the contradictions in her life and legacy. Curator: Precisely. It invites us to question whose narratives are privileged in history and how female figures are often instrumentalized and then demonized. Editor: I hadn't considered the layers of power dynamics at play. Thanks for shedding light on that! Curator: It is these dialogues that enrich our understanding of these complex works of art.