PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 3 September 1932, Page 11

PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE

A N art discovery of the greatest interest may have been made 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 Raleigh, but he was doubtful of this from the start. Raleigh, 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 Raleigh, but Shakespeare, and that the picture was painted in 1602 by Richard 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. ■ Ho claims, however, that he has succeeded in making out the name “Richard 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.R. 44, 69a.” apparently stands- for the age of Queen Elizabeth and the year of her reign, and this bears out the date 1602. Another marking is “a 38, a 32 f.” and this, Mr Willoughby states, gives the age both of Shakespeare and of Burbage. The latter numeral l evidently relates to the painter (“f” 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 Shakespeare have been found from time to time, only two likenesses of the poet are accepted as genuine. One is the

Claim for Discovery at Cork

“Drocshoet engraving,” which appears as a frontispiece to the- First Folio of 1023, and the other is- the bust in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. There is one picture attributed to Burbage (the “Chaudos 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 in 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 is 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 than were painted of him. How this picture (if it be Shakespeare’s picture) found its way into Ireland, is a mystery. Perhaps Sir Walter Raleigh 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 Raleigh’s Irish possessions passed into the hands of Richard Boyle, First Earl of Cork,, in 1604, and his property must, in the course of time 1 , 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 brought over the picture. Mr Willoughby’s find- is painted on wood, and measures 11 3-Bin by 9 5-Brn. 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.

i* l(M til I lIKKIM MM