This is the portrait that's in the news - the 'Cobbe portrait' of someone who might or might not be Shakespeare. It looks to me to be a pretty strong case - about as strong as it could be in the context - and it will be interesting to see if further research confirms it. I for one would certainly like to think that this sharp-eyed roguish fellow in the fancy ruff might be the man himself - and it's a fine portrait in itself. Any thoughts?
my only thought is that he appears to have a wee bit more hair than in every other image I've ever seen of him
ReplyDeleteExactly what I was going to say, Will! And also a much sharper, more aquiline nose.
ReplyDeleteAnd in yesterday's Guardian they said "Mystery relic found during London excavation is linked to Shakespeare: 16th-century pottery found with face resembling the Bard."
ReplyDelete". . . Penny Tuerk, a director of the Tower Theatre Company . . . added jokingly that the face could have been from an ale mug sold in The Theatre's souvenir shop - and that it could make another appearance one day when the new Tower theatre opens in 2012."
Looks remarkably like a bloke who used to work for me, the most untrustworthy person I ever met, so I hope not.
ReplyDeleteMr President, the Beard has landed! By the standards of the day, 46 was pretty old and this chap doesn't look like a 46-year-old man with King Lear behind him and the Tempest on his mind. Only six years later and he's become the stout "self-satisfied pork-butcher" of the Statford memorial. Hmmn. I wonder also whether anyone can produce a connection in Shakespeare's life which might hint why this painting should have been done in 1610 - something the occasion marked or celebrated perhaps. But stories like this are great, aren't they, especially when they confound our expectations. What we have here isn't at all the rather care-worn semi-retiree (by 1610) it is easy to imagine.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny as he's either about to be or already has been reborn for the first time since he was Shakespeare. Pleasing coincidence, if the portrait is him.
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