While contemporaries praised the monarchy in terms of likeness, Renaissance portraiture was more than a simple recording of features. It can be argued that the depiction of wealth, symbols of power, and insignia of ancestry is not art for art's sake; but rather art in the service of power and dynasty. However, this scrutiny of the current dynasty is often somewhat inappropriate and impossible, as demonstrated by the depiction of the two-year-old Edward VI as a symbol of sexual fluidity. Both the Tudor and Stuart courts used their dynastic brand to enhance their individual image, but this somewhat dilutes the importance of collective representation. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the image of Elizabeth at the Tudor court, where she rejects the appearance of fertility to celebrate her single monarchical identity. However, his image remains one of the most recognized by the modern population. It must therefore be considered that although the dynasty is represented at the Tudor and Stuart courts, the importance of this representation is not always at the forefront of success. The multi-faceted reality of the imagery of both Houses is that they always depend on the success and memory of the previous reign. Although in retrospect a more harmonious dynastic rule with the Stuart monarchs is present, their imagery is often strongly contested. We can therefore wonder whether the importance of the dynasty worked favorably for both courts or whether it was disrupted by the complicity of socio-political factors. Although Henry VII founded the Tudor dynasty; the real purpose of encouraging dynastic representation lies with Henry VIII. Kevin Sharpe goes on to state despite the creation of one of the greatest historical monarchs - Henr...... middle of paper ......sh Library Journal, 8:1-16.• Smith, David. 2005. “Portrait and counter-portrait in Holbein’s “The Family of Sir Thomas More.” The Art Bulletin, 87: 484-506. • Ferguson, Margaret., Quilligan, Maureen. and Vickers, Nancy. 1986. Rewriting the Renaissance: Discourses of Sexual Difference in Early Modern Europe, (Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press).• Margaret, Aston. 1995. The King's Bedpost: Reformation and Iconography in a Tudor Group Portrait, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press).• Smuts, Malcoil. (1996). The Stuart Court and Europe: Essays on Politics and Political Culture, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press). • Montrose, Louis. 2006. “Elizabeth Through the Looking Glass: Imagining the Queen's Two Bodies” in The Queen's Body: Gender and Rule in the Courtly World, 1500-2000, edited by Schulte, Regina. (New York, Bergahn Books) : 61-87.