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No contemporary physical description of William Shakespeare is known to exist. The two portraits of him that are the most famous (both of which may be posthumous) are the engraving that appears on the title-page of the First Folio, published in 1623, and the other is the sculpture that adorns his memorial in
Stratford upon Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-wes ...
, which dates from before 1623. Experts and critics have argued that several other paintings from the period may represent him, and more than 60 portraits purporting to be of Shakespeare were offered for sale to the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
within four decades of its foundation in 1856, but in none of them has Shakespeare's identity been proven. There is no concrete evidence that Shakespeare ever commissioned a portrait. However, it is thought that portraits of him did circulate during his lifetime because of a reference to one in the anonymous play ''
Return from Parnassus The Parnassus plays are three satiric comedies, or full-length academic dramas each divided into five acts. They date from between 1598 and 1602. They were performed in London by students for an audience of students as part of the Christmas fe ...
'' (), in which a character says "O sweet Mr Shakespeare! I'll have his picture in my study at the court."David Piper, ''O Sweet Mr. Shakespeare I'll Have His Picture: The Changing Image of Shakespeare's Person, 1600–1800'', National Portrait Gallery, Pergamon Press, 1980. After his death, as Shakespeare's reputation grew, artists created portraits and narrative paintings depicting him, most of which were based on earlier images, but some of which were purely imaginative. He was also increasingly commemorated in Shakespeare memorial sculptures, initially in Britain, and later elsewhere around the world. At the same time, the clamour for authentic portraits fed a market for fakes and misidentifications.


Portraits clearly identified as Shakespeare

There are two representations of Shakespeare that are unambiguously identified as him, although both may be posthumous. * The
Droeshout portrait The Droeshout portrait or Droeshout engraving is a portrait of William Shakespeare engraved by Martin Droeshout as the frontispiece for the title page of the First Folio collection of Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623. It is one of only t ...
. An engraving by
Martin Droeshout Martin Droeshout (; April 1601 – c.1650) was an English engraver of Flemish descent, who is best known as illustrator of the title portrait for William Shakespeare's collected works, the First Folio of 1623, edited by John Heminges and H ...
as title-page to the collected works of Shakespeare (the First Folio), printed in 1622 and published in 1623. An introductory poem in the First Folio, by Ben Jonson, implies that it is a very good likeness. * The bust in
Shakespeare's funerary monument The Shakespeare funerary monument is a memorial to William Shakespeare located inside Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, the church in which Shakespeare was baptised and where he was buried in the chancel two days afte ...
, in the choir of
Holy Trinity Church Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as ''H ...
,
Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
. This half-length statue on his memorial must have been erected within six years after Shakespeare’s death in 1616. It is believed to have been commissioned by the poet’s son-in-law, Dr
John Hall John Hall may refer to: Academics * John Hall (NYU President) (fl. c. 1890), American academic * John A. Hall (born 1949), sociology professor at McGill University, Montreal * John F. Hall (born 1951), professor of classics at Brigham Young Unive ...
, and must have been seen by Shakespeare's widow Anne. It is believed that the bust was made by the Flemish artist Gerard Johnson.


Possible portraits

There are several portraits dated to the 17th century that have been claimed to represent Shakespeare, although in each the sitter is either unidentified or the identification with Shakespeare is debatable.


Probably made during Shakespeare's lifetime

* The Chandos portrait. This portrait is attributed to
John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 *John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...
, and dated to about 1610. In 2006, the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
published a report authored by Tarnya Cooper saying it is the only painting with any real claim to have been done from life. The Cobbe portrait had not been discovered at that time, but Cooper has since confirmed her opinion. The name arose as it was once in the possession of the Duke of Chandos. * The Chess Players attributed to Karel van Mander. This was identified in 1916 as an image of Ben Jonson and Shakespeare playing chess. Most scholars consider this to be pure speculation, but the claim was revived in 2004 by Jeffrey Netto, who argued that the chess game symbolises "the well known professional rivalry between these figures in terms of a battle of wits". * The Cobbe portrait: In 2009,
Stanley Wells Sir Stanley William Wells, (born 21 May 1930) is a Shakespearean scholar, writer, professor and editor who has been honorary president of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, professor emeritus at Birmingham University, and author of many books a ...
and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust announced that they believe this painting, which has been in the possession of the Cobbe family since the early 18th century, is a portrait of Shakespeare drawn from life. The portrait is thought to have belonged initially to Shakespeare's patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, and to have been copied by another artist who created the painting known as the Janssen portrait, which had already been claimed to depict Shakespeare."Katz, Gregory
The Bard? Portrait said to be Shakespeare unveiled
" Associated Press, 9 March 2009.
Tarnya Cooper, the 17th-century art specialist at the
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...
, argues that both paintings depict Thomas Overbury. * The Grafton Portrait by an unknown artist of a man whose age, like Shakespeare's, was 24 in 1588. It belongs to the John Rylands University Library Manchester. * Reputed portrait in John Gerard's ''Herball''. In May 2015, the magazine ''Country Life'' published a cover story with the claim by the botanist Mark Griffiths that a portrait of Shakespeare was included as part of the title page of ''Herball, or Generall Historie of Plantes'', a 1597 book by John Gerard. Others have argued that such an identification is tenuous as best. * A Man Clasping a Hand from a Cloud, by Nicholas Hilliard dated 1588. This was identified as Shakespeare by
Leslie Hotson John Leslie Hotson, (16 August 1897 – 16 November 1992) was a scholar of Elizabethan literary puzzles. Biography He was born at Delhi, Ontario, on 16 August 1897. He studied at Harvard University, where he obtained a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. He we ...
in his book ''Shakespeare by Hilliard'' (1977). Sceptical scholars believe this is unlikely. Roy Strong suggested that it is Lord Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk. (National Portrait Gallery, London) * The Peake portrait. A portrait said to depict Shakespeare by Robert Peake the Elder, signed and dated 1608, was put on sale in October 2022. Peake produced portraits of many significant members of Jacobean society, and had been commissioned by the
Office of the Revels The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain. ...
which oversaw the production of plays as well as providing rehearsal space used by Shakespeare's company. However, the claim that it depicts Shakespeare was dismissed as "wishful thinking" by Shakespeare scholar Michael Dobson. * The
Sanders portrait The Sanders portrait is reputed to be one of the few images of William Shakespeare done in his lifetime. It features a middle-aged man wearing a black doublet with silver ornamentation. It also has a label affixed to the back which reads: :Sh ...
. This has a label attached identifying it as Shakespeare and stating that it was painted in 1603. New scientific tests on the label and the oak panel suggest that it dates to Shakespeare's lifetime, which, if true, would make this a likely authentic image of Shakespeare. It is attributed by a family tradition to one John Sanders, or possibly his brother Thomas, who is believed to have been a scene painter for William Shakespeare's Theatre Company. The identification has been queried on the grounds that the subject appears to be too young for the 39-year-old Shakespeare in 1603 and that 23 April birth date on the label reflects the conventional date adopted in the 18th century, which is not certain to be accurate. The inscription on the label "This likeness taken" has been criticised as not a contemporary formulation. * The Zuccari portrait. A life-size oval portrait painted on a wooden panel. This was owned by Richard Cosway, who attributed it to Federico Zuccari, an artist who was contemporary with Shakespeare. It is no longer attributed to him, nor is there any evidence to identify it as Shakespeare; however it was probably painted during his lifetime and may depict a poet.


Gallery: portraits claimed to be of Shakespeare painted from life

File:Shakespeare.jpg, The Chandos portrait File:Cobbe_portrait_of_Shakespeare.jpg, The Cobbe portrait File:Janssen portrait.jpg, The Janssen portrait File:Janssen pre 1988.jpg, The Janssen portrait as it appeared before restoration in 1988 Image:Nicholas Hilliard 015.jpg, Nicholas Hilliard: Man Clasping Hand from a Cloud File:Grafton portrait.jpg, The Grafton portrait Image:Sanders portrait2.jpg, The Sanders portrait File:Soest portrait of Shakespeare.jpg, The Soest portrait (painted at least 20 years after Shakespeare's death) File:William Shakespeare 1609.jpg, The
Flower portrait The ''Flower portrait'' is the name of one of the painted portraits of William Shakespeare. A 2005 investigation of the portrait led to the conclusion that it was a forged artwork painted in the 19th century. The name originates with the painting ...
(known to be a 19th-century forgery) File:Chess players by Karel van Mander.jpg, The Chess Players File:Zucchero.jpg, A print after the Zuccari portrait File:Stratfordportrait.jpg, The Stratford portrait File:Portrait of The Felton portrait (4671961).jpg, Engraving of The Felton portrait File:Herball Shakespeare.jpg, Reputed portrait in John Gerard's ''Herball''


Probably made within living memory of Shakespeare

In the decades after Shakespeare's death a number of portraits were made based on existing images or living memory. The most important of these are: * The Soest portrait, probably painted by Gerard Soest. The painting was first described by George Vertue, who attributed it to
Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 7 December 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. Life Lely was born Pieter van der Faes to Dutch ...
and stated that it was painted from a man who was said to look like Shakespeare.Tarnya Cooper (ed), ''Searching for Shakespeare'', National Portrait Gallery and Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Press, 2006, pp. 68; 70 It was owned by Thomas Wright of Covent Garden in 1725 when it was engraved by John Simon and attributed to Soest. It was probably painted in the late 1660s, after the Restoration permitted the reopening of the London theatres. * The Chesterfield portrait, dated 1660–1670, possibly painted by the Dutch painter
Pieter Borsseler Pieter Borsseler or Pieter Borselaer (1633/1634 Middelburg - in or after 1687, Middelburg) was a Dutch portrait painter who was prominent in England during the second half of the 17th century. Borsseler was born in Middelburg. He was a student of ...
, who worked in England in the second half of the 17th century. Its title derives from the fact that it was owned by the Earl of Chesterfield. It is generally assumed to be based on the Chandos portrait, which is evidence that the Chandos was accepted as a depiction of Shakespeare within living memory of the writer. * The Marshall portrait. John Benson's 1640 edition of Shakespeare's poems included an engraving of Shakespeare by William Marshall. This is a stylised and reversed version of the Droeshout portrait.


Later works, misidentifications, and fakes

A number of other copies or adaptations of the Chandos and Droeshout images were made in the later 17th century and early 18th century, such as
William Faithorne William Faithorne, often "the Elder" (161613 May 1691), was an English painter and engraver. Life Faithorne was born in London and was apprenticed to William Peake. On the outbreak of the Civil War Faithorne accompanied his master into the ...
's frontispiece of the 1655 edition of '' The Rape of Lucrece'', and
Louis Francois Roubiliac Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...
's copy of the Chandos, made as preparation for his sculpture of Shakespeare. These increased in number by the later 18th century and early 19th century, including an adaptation of Droeshout by William Blake () and prints by
John Goldar John Goldar (1729–1795) was an English engraver. Life Born at London in 1738, Goldar resided in Charlotte Street, Blackfriars Road, Southwark. He made a couple of forays into print publishing on his own account (of John Dixon (engraver), John D ...
,
Richard Austin Artlett Richard Austin Artlett (9 November 1807 – 1 September 1873) was a British engraver and painter. He was a pupil of Robert Cooper, and then of James Thomson. Works Artlett engraved in the dotted manner. He carried out some figure-subjects, ...
and others. The ''Stratford portrait'' was also probably made at this time. The picture is so called as it is in Stratford upon Avon. The picture was owned by a Mr Hunt, who was a town-clerk of Stratford. It was at one time considered to be the model for the Stratford memorial sculpture, which it closely resembles, but is now thought to have been created in the 18th century, based on the sculpture. The first known commercial use of Shakespeare's portrait in a public context was the 18th-century English bookseller
Jacob Tonson Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the Elder (1655–1736), was an eighteenth-century English bookseller and publisher. Tonson published editions of John Dryden and John Milton, and is best known for having obtained a copyright ...
's shop sign which depicted him. It is not known which image it was based on, but it may have been one of the surviving paintings based on the Chandos. By the mid-18th century the demand for portraits of Shakespeare led to several claims regarding surviving 17th-century paintings, some of which were altered to make them conform more closely to Shakespeare's features. The Janssen portrait was overpainted, receding the hairline and adding an inscription with an age and date to fit Shakespeare's life. This was done before 1770, making it the "earliest proven example of a genuine portrait altered to look like Shakespeare." In 1792 a painting that came to be known as the Felton portrait appeared at an auction, with the name of Shakespeare on the back and the initials R.B., which were taken to be those of Richard Burbage. 18th century Shakespeare scholar
George Steevens George Steevens (10 May 1736 – 22 January 1800) was an English Shakespearean commentator. Biography Early life He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at ...
supported the authenticity of the work, which is similar to the Droeshout engraving. A painting now called the
Ashbourne portrait The Ashbourne portrait is one of several portraits that have been falsely identified as portrayals of William Shakespeare. At least 60 such works had been offered for sale to the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery in the ...
was identified as a portrayal of Shakespeare in 1847, and it currently hangs in the Folger Shakespeare Library. The painting was reproduced as Shakespeare in the mid-19th century as a mezzotint by G.F. Storm. In 1940 Charles Wisner Barrell examined the portrait using X-ray and infrared photography, as well as rubbings of the concealed paint on the sitter's thumb ring, and concluded that the painting was a retouched portrait of
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604) was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of ...
, painted by
Cornelius Ketel Cornelius may refer to: People * Cornelius (name), Roman family name and a masculine given name * Pope Cornelius, pope from AD 251 to 253 * St. Cornelius (disambiguation), multiple saints * Cornelius (musician), stage name of Keigo Oyamada * Metro ...
. In 1979, the painting was restored, and a coat of arms uncovered which identified the sitter as
Hugh Hamersley Sir Hugh Hamersley (6 July 1565 – 19 October 1636) was a 17th-century merchant who was Lord Mayor of London in 1627. Business interests Hamersley's family estate was at Pyrton Manor near Watlington, Oxfordshire, but he rose to prominence ...
. The restoration revealed that the portrait had been retouched to have the hairline recede, while the inscribed age had been altered by one year and Hamersley's coat of arms had been painted over. Nevertheless, some Oxfordians continue to support the de Vere identification, claiming that the fashions worn by the sitter date the painting to about 1580 when Hamersley would have been only 15. Another example is the ''
Flower portrait The ''Flower portrait'' is the name of one of the painted portraits of William Shakespeare. A 2005 investigation of the portrait led to the conclusion that it was a forged artwork painted in the 19th century. The name originates with the painting ...
'', named for its owner, Sir Desmond Flower, who donated it to the Shakespeare Museum in 1911. This was once thought to be the earliest painting depicting Shakespeare, and the model for the Droeshout engraving. It was shown in a 2005 National Portrait Gallery investigation to be a 19th-century fake adapted from the engraving. The image of Shakespeare was painted over an authentic 16th-century painting of a Madonna and child. In 1849 a death mask was made public by a German artist, Ludwig Becker, who linked it to a painting which, he claimed, depicted Shakespeare and resembled the mask. The mask, known as the "Kesselstadt death mask" was given publicity when it was declared authentic by the scientist
Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and paleontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkable gift for interpreting fossils. Owe ...
, who also claimed that the Stratford memorial was based on it. The artist
Henry Wallis Henry Wallis (21 February 1830 – 20 December 1916) was a British Pre-Raphaelite painter, writer and collector. Wallis was born in London on 21 February 1830, but his father's name and occupation are unknown. When in 1845 his mother, Mary ...
painted a picture depicting the sculptor working on the monument while looking at the mask. The sculptor Lord Ronald Gower also believed in the authenticity of the mask. When he created the large public Shakespeare statue in Stratford in 1888, he based the facial features on it. He also attempted to buy it for the nation. The mask is now generally believed to be a fake, though its authenticity claim was revived in 1998. Other artists created new portraits designed to portray Shakespeare as an intellectual hero.
Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered primarily as a history painter, K ...
's ''Ideal Portrait of Shakespeare'' was based on Vertue's frontispiece to Alexander Pope's edition of Shakespeare's works, which in its turn bases on the so-called ''Welbeck Abbey Miniature'' by an unknown author. Below the portrait is a symbolic figure of Fame adorning Shakespeare's tomb.Jane Martineau and Desmond Shawe-Taylor, ''Shakespeare in Art'', Merrell, 2003, p.72; p212 In 1849 Ford Madox Brown adapted various images, including the Ashbourne Hamersley, to create a synthetic portrayal which he believed was as authentic a depiction as possible. It showed Shakespeare as a commanding figure in a richly decorated room. On his desk are books representing Shakespeare's sources, including the works of Boccaccio and Chaucer. In a similar vein, John Faed depicted Shakespeare at the centre of a gathering of scholars and writers in his painting ''Shakespeare and his Friends at the Mermaid Tavern'' (1850).


Narrative and allegorical works

From the mid-18th century a number of paintings and sculptures were made which depicted Shakespeare as part of narrative or allegorical scenario symbolising his genius.


Allegories

In addition to her ''Ideal Portrait'' Angelica Kauffman created the allegorical ''The Birth of Shakespeare'' (c. 1770), which depicted the baby Shakespeare with the personification of Fantasy and the muses of Tragedy and Comedy. At the bottom of the composition are a scepter, a crown, and the mask of tragedy, portending the child's brilliant future. George Romney painted a similar picture of a baby Shakespeare surrounded by symbolic figures entitled '' The Infant Shakespeare attended by Nature and the Passions''. According to the description, "Nature is represented with her face unveiled to her favourite Child, who is placed between Joy and Sorrow. On the right of Nature are Love, Hatred & Jealousy; on her left hand, Anger, Envy, & Fear." Romney also painted a simpler version of the scene entitled ''Shakespeare nursed by Tragedy and Comedy''. Another allegory is present in Thomas Banks' ''Shakespeare attended by Painting and Poetry'', in which the poet is glorified by symbolic figures lauding his creative genius.


Narratives

In the same period artists began to depict real or imagined scenes from Shakespeare's life, which were sometimes popularised as prints. The popularity of such scenes was especially high in the Victorian era. Most popular was the apocryphal story of the young Shakespeare being brought before Sir
Thomas Lucy Sir Thomas Lucy (24 April 15327 July 1600) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1571 and 1585. He was a magistrate in Warwickshire, but is best known for his links to William Shakespeare. As a Protestant activist, he cam ...
on the charge of poaching, which was depicted by several artists. The more respectable and patriotic scene of Shakespeare reading his work to Queen Elizabeth I was also painted by several artists, such as
John James Chalon John James Chalon (27 March 1778 – 14 November 1854) was a Swiss painter active in England. He treated a wide range of subjects — landscapes, marine scenes, animal life, and figure-pieces. Life He was born at Geneva, of an old French family ...
.


Modern works

By the end of the 19th century portraits and statues of Shakespeare were appearing in numerous contexts, and his stereotyped features were being used in advertisements, cartoons, shops, pub signs and buildings. Such images proliferated in the 20th century. In Britain ''Shakespeare's Head'' and ''The Shakespeare Arms'' became popular names for pubs. Between 1970 and 1993, an image of the Westminster abbey statue of Shakespeare appeared on the reverse of British £20 notes. The ubiquity of these stereotyped features has led to adaptations of Shakespeare portraits by several modern artists. In 1964, for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's birth, Pablo Picasso created numerous variations on the theme of Shakespeare's face reduced to minimal form in a few simple lines.
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He wa ...
wrote an essay to accompany the drawings. More recently graphic designers have played with the conventional motifs in Shakespeare's features. These include
Rafał Olbiński Rafał Olbinski (born February 21, 1943) is a Polish illustrator, painter, and educator, living in the United States. He is considered one of the major representatives of the Polish School of Posters. Biography Olbinski was born in Kielce, Pol ...
's ''Shakespeare in Central Park'', Festival poster (1994), an exhibition poster used by the Victoria and Albert Museum and Mirko Ilić's Shakespeare illustration in '' The New York Times'' (1996). Milton Glaser also created ''25 Shakespeare Faces'', a theater poster in 2003. In 2000 István Orosz created a double anamorphic portrait for the
Swan Theatre The Swan was a theatre in Southwark, London, England, built in 1595 on top of a previously standing structure, during the first half of William Shakespeare's career. It was the fifth in the series of large public playhouses of London, aft ...
. In 2013
Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
introduced a Shakespeare minifigure.


See also

* Marlowe portrait


Notes


Further reading

* Roy, Pinaki. "''What's in a Frame?'': The Perplexing Multiplicity of Shakespeare's Portraits". ''Yearly Shakespeare–2015'' , XIII, April 2015: 7–13.


External links


The Faces of Shakespeare

Is This William Shakespeare


* ttp://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?search=ss&sText=shakespeare&LinkID=mp04051 The 42 images in the NPG
A computer morph combining the Chandos and Cobbe portraits
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare, William, Portraits Of Portrait art