An Irishman Claims to Have Found Shakespeare's Real Likeness

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 50, 27 August 1932, Page 18

An Irishman Claims to Have Found Shakespeare's Real Likeness

An art discovery of the greatest interest may have been mad© by Mr. C. H. "Willoughby, of Cork, who claims that a picture which he purchased there recently is a genuine portrait of Shakespeare. The picture was sold to him as one of Sir Walter Baleigh, but he was doubtful of this from the start. Ealeigh, as is well known, was a notorious dandy, and the figure in this portrait is dressed in very plain clothes. Further investigation, he states, revealed the existence of minute markings on the portrait, and these finally convinced him that the man was not Ealeigh, but Shakespeare, and that the picture was painted in 1602 by Eichard Burbage, the actor, says the "Evening Standard." The markings referred to are very small and practically indecipherable, and it was, indeed, many weeks before some of them were discovered by Mr. Willoughby. He claims, however, that he has succeeded in making out the name "Eiehard Burbage" and the letters "ear," presumably the final letters of Shakespeare's name. There is also the date of the painting, MDCII. Apart from these, there are several other inscriptions. "E.E. 44, 69a." apparently stands for the ago of Queen Elizabeth and the year of her reign, and this bears out the date 1603. Another marking is "a 38, a 32 £." and this, Mr. Willoughby states, gives the age both of Shakespeare and of Burbage. The latter numeral evidently relates to the painter ("£" for "fecit" being a common abbreviation) and this would make the date of Burbage's birth 1570, as compared with the approximate date of 1567 given in the Dictionary of National Biography. "A 38" would then stand for Shakespeare's age, and this confirms the date of his birth as 1564.

If Mr. Willoughby's claim can be substantiated, he "will have made a discovery of the greatest importance. Though many supposed pictures of ShakespeaTe have been found from time to time, only two likenesses of the

poet are accepted as genuine. One is the "Droeshoet engraving," which appears as a frontispiece to the First Folio of 1623, and the other is the bust ia Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. There is one picture attributed to Burbage (the "Chandos portrait"), but it is probably not authentic. An established picture by Burbage would be of the highest value, and would, perhaps, be the most perfect likeness of the dramatist -which exists. Shakespeare was a close friend of Burbage, and worked with him ia the "Lord Chamberlain's Company" for a number of years, first at the Shoreditch Theatre (owned by Burbage's father), and later at the Globe. Burbage ia known to have been a painter of some talent, and what is more likely than that he should have made a portrait of the man with whom he was so closely acquainted? Knowing Shakespeare as he did, his portrait might well be the most lifelike of any that were painted of him. How this picture (it it be Shakespeare's picture) found its way into Ireland, is a mystery. Perhaps Sir Walter Ealeigh might supply the connecting link, for he was an acquaintance of the poet, and his large estates in Ireland included the house in Youghal where he lived for some years. All Ealeigh's Irish possessions passed into the hands of Eichard Boyle, First Earl of Cork, in 1604, and his property must, in the conrse of time, have been dispersed into various parts of the county. In any case, there was a constant stream of courtiers to and from Ireland at that period, and one of them might easily have bought over the picture Mr. Willoughby Js find is painted on wood, and measures 11 3-Bin by 9 5-Bin. It shows a man whose general appearance is very similar to our notions of what Shakespeare should look like. There is the same oval face, high (rather bald) forehead, and small beard. It is an unpretentious little work, but, if all the claims are true, it may be worth many thousands of pounds.