LikenessesandPortraits3

William Shakespeare is a man of many faces. The Bard is depicted in many portraits, most of which are posthumous and based on earlier images. After Shakespeare’s death, he grew in popularity which made portraits of the man grow in popularity also. Artists normally had no image or idea of what shakespeare looked like so were made out of pure imagination. Also, counterfeits were made because of the popular demand. Finally, two portraits emerged as the commonly accepted portraits of William Shakespeare.
 * What does Shakespeare look like? What are the only existing likenesses of William Shakespeare? Are they authentic? What is the Cobbe portrait and why is it so significant? What is different about the Cobbe portrait from all other existing likenesses? What impact does it’s discovery have on our understanding of Shakespeare’s life and looks? Is it authentic?**

The first accepted likeness of William appeared on the cover of Shakespeare’s First Folio, which was released in 1623. The portrait is a black and white copper engraving of Shakespeare created by the flemish artist, Martin Droeshout. Droeshout was only a boy when the Bard deceased making it very unlikely that the image was created after Shakespeare’s death.

The other accepted representation of William Shakespeare is mentioned in the First Folio, meaning that it must have existed before 1623, but x-rays show that it still was created posthumous. The likeness is a stone bust showing the great playwright holding a sheet of paper and a quill pen. The bust is held in the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Recently, a portrait like no other of William Shakespeare was released into the public claiming that it was created during Shakespeare’s lifetime. This portrait is known as the Cobbe portrait and was just released in 2009. This portrait is very famous because it shows Shakespeare with a fuller head of hair and a longer face. This new portrait stunned the world and is assumed real, but it might just be another clever fake. These images are quite interesting and it is interesting to wonder what Shakespeare really did look like.

[] This is a video about the recent unveiling of an unknown portrait of William Shakespeare that was drawn during his lifetime. Check out the Cobbe portrait!