Portrait of Shakespeare – It might be him… yet it just might not…
A lot of mystery still surrounds the life of William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616). No one can really say for certain… but this is now believed by some scholars to be the only portrait painted of Shakespeare that he actually sat for during his lifetime. It’s thought to have been painted in 1610, when he was 46 years old.
What some scholars find interesting about it is that if it is Shakespeare, he appears to be more affluent than previously thought.
Not all scholars are convinced that it is actually Shakespeare though.
You can see other “portraits” of Shakespeare online at the BBC – most thought to have been done posthumously.
You can read more about why this portrait is thought to be authentic and about its history at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and other points of view about it at Times Online – Is this the real Shakespeare at last?
