Anne’s Face was not her Fortune.
Anne’s accomplishments were vital for she did not match sixteenth-century conventions of great beauty. Her height was average, and the Venetian ambassador to England Francesco Sanuto described her as having “a swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth” and a “bosom not much raised.” All of this was in stark contrast to the celebrated beauty of Bessie Blount, Henry VIII’s most famous mistress. Sanuto summarized the general opinion of Anne’s looks: she was attractive but “not one of the handsomest women in the world.”
In her favor, Anne had eyes that were “black and beautiful’ and wonderful dark hair. However, her attributes also went beyond looks alone. John Barlow, an English cleric, described Bessie Blount as ‘more beautiful” than Anne. However, he described Anne as “more eloquent and gracious and reasonably good looking.”
Then there were the rumors of deformity, namely the extra finger on her hand. This rumor appears to have been correct- even if a little exaggerated. George Wyatt was the grandson of Thomas Wyatt the poet and courtier who was reputedly one of Anne’s lovers. Almost a century after Anne’s death he wrote that “there was found..upon the side of her nail, upon one of her fingers, some little show of a nail, which yet was so small by the report of those that have seen her.” Anne usually hid this “with the tip of one of her other fingers.”
Anne’s less-than-perfect looks, however, did not stop her from stealing hearts.