Édouard Cibot’s painting depicting Anne Boleyn in the Tower of London shortly after her arrest [Figure 1] is one that still resonates within today’s society and academic study. For example, it inspired modern author, Wendy J Dunn, whist writing her 2002 novel, ‘Dear Heart, How Like You This?’ even acting as the front cover of the novel. Dunn talked of how the expressions of ‘despair, sorrow and love’ displayed drew her in, and this essay will explore the two prominent factors that determined the making and meaning of this painting that has such effects on both modern and contemporary viewers of it. These factors include the oddly similar cultural context of Cibot and Anne whilst also focusing on the impact of the ‘Romantic period’ on Cibot’s work.
Cibot’s cultural context is significant when analyzing the factors in the making of his most famous work, as the…show more content… Cibot entered the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris in 1822, a mere two decades after the French Revolution ended. As a result, it follows that he was influenced in his paintings by his upbringing in an unstable Paris; this cultural change that had taken place is shown by Francois Aulard’s description of ‘the establishment of equality. ’ In many ways Cibot’s context mirrors that of his subject, Anne Boleyn. Boleyn was painted not only in the foreground of Cibot’s work of art, but also in the foreground of the Protestant revolution in England, an equally revolutionary movement. Molly Driscoll gives an account of how Anne was described as a martyr of Protestant culture by the Musée Rolin in Autun’s. This shows the extent of her role in the English 16th century revolution, showing why she would be a figure in which Cibot would be fascinated by Anne as a subject for his work. In a
