So do we now know what Shakespeare looked like?

Last October the National Portrait Gallery told us that the famous Grafton portrait of Shakespeare (right) was  almost certainly a fake (see report in the Daily Telegraph and commentary at the Sharp Side).  Today's Sunday Times has what looks like an interesting article on the NPG's research on the authenticity of six candidate portraits (including the Grafton). 

They conclude that the so-called Chandos portrait (left) is the one which is most likely to be a true likeness, but are maddeningly short on reasons.  "Painted probably between 1603 and 1610, it appears to represent a man in his mid- to late-thirties or early forties. Shakespeare would have been aged between 39 and 46, so the dates more or less fit." 

And as for its provenance, well it is claimed that it was painted by John Taylor who acted with Shakespeare, and that Taylor left it on his death to William Davenant.  Davenant is not entirely a reliable source: he claimed to be Shakespeare's godson (and some have speculated that he was in fact Shakespeare's illegitimate son) he was a failed dramatist himself and would no doubt have liked his peers to believe that his association with Shakespeare made up for his lack of talent.  But there again, Davenant was the son of John and Jennet Davenant at whose Oxford inn Shakespeare does seem to have stayed regularly on his journeys to and from Stratford. So he was familiar with Shakespeare and if he said the portrait was a good likeness then who are we to argue?  But as with most of the Shakespearean biographical details, much is assumption and extrapolation from the meagre established facts.

The article is worth reading in full although it does turn out to be less incisive or indeed interesting than it could have been. The printed copy in the Sunday Times Magazine is well illustrated.  Presumably though, it is a teaser for the NPG's forthcoming exhibition: Searching For Shakespeare which opens in March.  Yet more cause for impatience on my part.

Comments

[Edward Pettit]

There is a story on Shakesportraits in the Globe and Mail, as well. It starts with the Sanders portrait.

Sorry I can't give a shorter link:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060204.wxshakespeare04/BNStory/Entertainment/home/?&pageRequested=all&print=true

Prosit,
Ed