This is the bronze effigy of Anne of Bohemia that lies
on her tomb in Westminster Abbey
Anne and Richard
are buried together in this tomb, which Richard ordered on April 25,
Anne died in 1394 at Sheen Palace, a royal retreat along the Thames (Anne's
father-in-law Edward III
also died there
in 1377). In the Prologue to The Legend of Good Women
, Chaucer suggested
that his work be sent to the Queen at Sheen: "whan this book ys maad, yive
it the Quene,/On my byhalf...at Sheene" (F-Text, ll. 496-7). After Anne's
death, these two lines were deleted from the text.
In 1499 Sheen Palace burned down, and King Henry VII rebuilt it and gave
it the new name of Richmond Palace. Above is a 1617 illustration of the building.
The palace eventually fell into disuse and it was finally demolished in
the late seventeenth century.