The first topic on the early modern section of the course that I teach for Liverpool Hope is Renaissance kingship, and I like to start by getting the students drawing: first Henry VIII, then Henry VII.  The idea is that it brings home to them the power of the image – they all know what Henry VIII looks like because of the famous Holbein painting, but they struggle with Henry VII.  It’s only a quick exercise – a few minutes at most – but it gets them doing something a bit different and it makes them think about why it is they all know what Henry VIII looks like, but not his father.

I’d like to thank my 2017-18 cohort for again allowing me to share a photograph of their work.