Gerard Soest (circa 1600 – 11 February 1681), also known as Gerald Soest, was a portrait painter who was active in England during the late 17th century. He is most famous for his portraits of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and Samuel Butler, but painted many members of the English gentry. Soest was traditionally thought to have come from Soest in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, but was probably from Soest, Netherlands, being Dutch by birth and training. He seems to have been in England by the late 1640s, and his paintings at this time show the influence of

William Dobson William Dobson (4 March 1611 (baptised); 28 October 1646 (buried)) was a portraitist and one of the first significant English painters, praised by his contemporary John Aubrey as "''the most excellent painter that England has yet bred''". He ...

. His earliest known work is dated 1646. He had a moderately successful career, but was never fashionable and never managed to get commissions from courtiers and royalty. Soest's portrait of Shakespeare was owned by Thomas Wright of Covent Garden in 1725 when it was engraved by John Simon. It was painted by Soest at least 30 years after Shakespeare's death.

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...

states that it was based on a man who resembled Shakespeare, while the pose and costume suggest the influence of the

Chandos portrait Chandos may refer to: Titles * Duke of Chandos, and Baron Chandos, three English titles, all extinct * Viscount Chandos, a modern title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom Businesses * Chandos Records * Chandos Publishing Other uses * Chand ...

.National Portrait Gallery, ''Searching for Shakespeare'', 2006

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* Year of birth uncertain 1681 deaths Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters People from Soest, Netherlands Portraits of William Shakespeare 17th-century Dutch people {{Netherlands-artist-stub