According to "Hone ha kataru: Tokugawa Shogun Daimyoke no hitobito" (Bones talk: the people of Tokugawa shogun and daimyo families) by Hisashi SUZUKI, who observed the refurbishment of the Tokugawa shogun family's grave site at Zojo-ji Temple where Ienobu was also buried and who was also in charge of inspecting the remains, Ienobu was apparently a soft-looking, lean-faced handsome man with a shapely nose and he shared very little resemblance with his father Tsunashige except for the fact that he was round-shouldered.
家宣の埋葬された増上寺で徳川将軍家の墓地が改葬された際に、これに立ち会い被葬者の遺骨の調査を担当した鈴木尚の著書『骨は語る徳川将軍・大名家の人びと』によると、家宣は細面で鼻筋が通っていて穏やかな顔立ちをした美男であったといい、父・綱重とは猫背であったこと以外に似ている部分は非常に少なかったという。