was tenuous. God, or possibly the Stanley family, smile upon him at Bosworth on 22 August 1485 when he became king by right of arms – the last of England’s kings to do so. Early modern people regarded the victory as evidence that Henry’s claim to the throne had divine approval....
“Pallas chasing away Mars” is, I believe, the name that is given to the picture; and it represents in fact a young woman of noble appearance administering a gentle push to a fine young man in armour, as if to tell him to keep his distance. It is of the gentleness of this push ...