Possible Anne Boleyn portrait identified by using facial recognition software

Scientists have used an old portrait and facial recognition software or CCTV technology to identify the face of King Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Boleyn was one of the most enigmatic women in British history, yet little was known about her face because contemporary portraits were thought to be destroyed after she was executed at the Tower of London in 1536, the Independent reported.

Now scientists believe they have identified a portrait of Boleyn using facial recognition software that has compared the only confirmed image of Anne on a medal in the British Museum with a painting known as the Nidd Hall portrait.

Art historians have debated whether the Nidd Hall portrait was Boleyn or her successor, Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife.