Northcote had created works for the famous 'Shakespeare Gallery' (1786) of Alderman John Boydell (1720-1804). This composition (of which four versions survive) is a classic 'Boydell-Shakespeare' picture - a large, grand treatment of a slightly obscure episode in English history - except that it is not for Boydell and does not illustrate Shakespeare. The subject is the infant marriage in 1478 of the younger of the two Princes subsequently to be murdered in the Tower, Richard Plantagenet (1472-83), to the heiress of the Duke of Norfolk, Lady Anne Mowbray (1472-81). Had he chosen to include it this could have been fitted in to Shakespeare's 'Henry VI, Part III', but instead Northcote has had to rely on Frances Sandford's 1707 book, 'A Genealogical History of the Kings and Queens of England' for his source. It is not obvious what the point of the story is except as a variation on the theme of the 'Princes in the Tower': a contrast of thoughtless innocence surrounded by grave and scheming dignitaries - Bishop, King, Queen and especially satanic-looking Cardinal. The scene is intended to provoke the reflection that neither one of the happy couple will live to an age when they might consummate their union.