“Lady Bergavenny”: Joanna Neville, Anne Boleyn or Eleanor Stafford? Decoding the Mystery
On 10th April 2016 the article published in the Sunday Times and Mail Online claimed that a nineteenth-century engraving of a lost portrait of Anne Boleyn had been found on eBay by the best-selling British historian and author Alison Weir. The catchy headline suggested that “the lost head of Anne Boleyn” had been found. Is it really an engraving of the lost portrait depicting Anne Boleyn? This and many other questions will be answered in this article.
Figure 1: “Lady Bergavenny” or Anne Boleyn? Courtesy of the author.
Painting’s history
The original painting has been part of Horace Walpole’s collection at his residence at Strawberry Hill. Upon Walpole’s death in 1797, the estate passed to his cousin, Anne Seymour Damer, and eventually to her heir, the 7th Earl of Waldegrave. By 1842, the Earl of Waldegrave, who had inherited the property and its contents, found himself in financial difficulties and decided to sell the collection. The sale catalogue listed over 4,500 lots including paintings, furniture, books, manuscripts, and various other objects collected by Walpole over the course of his lifetime.
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The portrait is now part of a private collection. After it was sold in 1842 during the auction at Strawberry Hill, it was acquired by Ralph Bernal, British politician and art collector. Upon Bernal’s death in 1854, his vast collection of portraits and historical artefacts was inventoried and auctioned during the sale on 5 March 1855. The painting was then sold to Reginald Neville, esquire. The portrait was acquired by John Webb and displayed at the exhibition at South Kensington Museum (now Victoria & Albert Museum) in 1866. It was auctioned again by art dealers Christie, Manson and Woods in 1869, selling for a high price of £210 (approximately $275).
Several engravings and sketches of the portrait were made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: one is preserved in the British Museum, one at the National Portrait Gallery in London and one at the Lewis Walpole Library at the Yale University. A miniature dating to the nineteenth century is held in Arundel Castle (figure 2).
Figure 2: Miniature of “Lady Bergavenny”, a nineteenth century copy held at Arundel Castle. Photo courtesy of Heather R. Darsie. Courtesy of the author.
Figure 3: Sketch of “Lady Bergavenny” portrait from the Bernal sale catalogue, 1852. Courtesy of the author.
