 The " ship portrait " had a long history in maritime art , from medieval seals and coins to early engravings in the 15th century , and the plain side @-@ on view of a ship under sail , often with no crew shown , was well established as the most effective way of recording the build of vessels . The Anthony Roll belongs to a genre of works that was intended to serve a dual role for the king and the military leadership : as reasonably informative overviews listing details of ships or strategic areas of coastlines they could be studied to determine strengths and weaknesses , and as boastful and lively depictions of Tudor military might they could be used to flatter the king , impress courtiers and impose martial authority on foreign ambassadors . Contemporary maps , or " plats " , were routinely decorated with detailed pictures of ships , to mark bodies of water as much as to liven up the scenes . Such maps were common at the time , and were even embellished by artists if deemed too simple or drab . The navy was expanded during King Henry 's reign , and he was known to take an interest in warships , as can be seen by the epic painting Embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover which portrayed , if rather unrealistically , the ships that took the 29 @-@ year @-@ old king to the summit meeting with Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 . This painting , recently dated to around 1545 , has also been suggested as a likely source of inspiration to Anthony for his illustrations . 
