LibGuides: The Line of Clothing: Rendering for Costume Design: Anna Bolena

Biographical Information

Boleyn, Anne (bŏl′ĭn, bŏlĭn′), 1507?–1536, second queen consort of Henry VIII and mother of Elizabeth I. After spending some years in France, she was introduced to the English court in 1522. Soon Henry, who had already enjoyed the favors of her older sister, fell in love with Anne. Unlike her sister, however, Anne refused to become his mistress, and this fact, coupled with Henry's desire for a male heir, led the king to begin divorce proceedings against Katherine of Aragon in 1527. In 1532 Anne finally yielded to the king, and the resulting pregnancy hastened a secret marriage in 1533 and the final annulment. Anne was crowned queen on June 1. Her delivery of a daughter Elizabeth bitterly disappointed Henry. In 1536, after the miscarriage of a son, Anne was brought to trial on multiple charges of adultery, including incest with her brother, accusations that have been disputed ever since. Under great pressure, a court headed by her uncle Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, condemned her, and she was beheaded. Two days before her death her marriage was declared void by the Church of England. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, Q2 2016. Longer Biography

More Resources

In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion by Anna Reynolds
Call Number: GT734 .R49x 2013
For In Fine Style, Anna Reynolds, curator of paintings at the Royal Collection, has drawn on the art of the period, as well as wardrobe inventories, literary references, contemporary accounts, and surviving garments to offer a fascinating account of the elite fashions of the day and the ways in which they were recreated in paint. The gold threads seen throughout the forepart of Elizabeth’s gown were costly, while the red dye that colored it came from crushed beetles and would have had to have been imported from Spain. Other works show their subjects with intricate ruffs, bright stockings, or broad farthingales, each item extravagantly adorned. Indeed, the main focus of Tudor and Stuart clothing was on rich materials that communicated the ability of the wearer to afford them, and, with the rise of the moneyed merchant class, sumptuary laws were established to limit their use to the nobility. Other forms of attire, including ornate hairdos held in place with wire and pleats that had to be set each time the garment was worn left absolutely no doubt as to the fact that the wearer had an army of servants and a wealth of spare time with which to attend to appearance

Dueling Tudors
By Joe Kucharski. Stage Directions. August 1, 2015
The historical period was the same, but how the costumes exhibited it couldn’t have been more different for Wolf Hall and Something Rotten.

Artstor

Searching in ArtStor is a great way to get visual inspiration for your designs through objects and art. One advantage of ArtStor is you can zoom in very closely on the image and look at the details. Try searching Boleyn or Henry VIII