Do we have a true portrait of Catherine of Aragon? What did she really look like?
So you guys have seen the modern recreation from last year (made some adjustments to it here in slide 2), but I had yet to create the portraits of an older Catherine, from the 1520s.
We definitely have some opposing views of Catherine. There are quite a few younger portraits that are said to be Catherine, like the Michel Sittow portrait on slide 2. But this one is argued over, and it’s thought perhaps to be Mary Rose Tudor or another noble lady. In this image she is pretty, has a round face and red-gold hair. This is in line with physical descriptions of Catherine, saying she was plump with fair skin, short in stature, with large blue eyes.
However, if we look at confirmed portraits of Catherine from when she was older (in her mid to late 30s), they don’t quite match up with this young, pretty girl. I actually love the older portraits of Catherine, I think they show her determination and steadfastness. But it is a bit hard to find her true face between the two of them. The logical answer is that Catherine probably looked more similar to the 1520 portraits, considering they are confirmed whereas the supposed teenaged portrait is not. What do you guys think?
Left image: Lambeth Portrait, National Portrait Gallery, Public Domain of the United States.