The Faces Of Shakespeare

The Chandos Portrait (1600-1610) — AFP/National Portrait Gallery

The Chandos Portrait is one of six in the National Portrait Gallery show that have been identified or misidentified as representing William Shakespeare. The first was given to the National Portrait Gallery in 1856. Its identity is "unproven." Points in its favor include the earring and loose tie, bohemian touches even in Shakespeare's time.

Click below for more on this and other London summer '06 exhibitions.

The Soest Portrait (c1667)

Painted not many years after Shakespeare's death in 1616, the Soest Portrait may be an early fake ... a portrait of an actor who was chosen by the artist because he looked a bit like the real man of distant memory.

The Sanders Portrait (1603)

The newly discovered Sanders Portrait purportedly shows the playright at age 39, as painted by a young fellow actor and sometime painter. The period is right, but experts are dubious.

The Grafton Portrait

The Grafton Portrait was painted during Shakespeare's lifetime, but the clothing is too elegant for an actor of the day.

The Flower Portrait (1620-40)

Fake! The museum's experts have concluded that this picture was painted in the 19th century, based on the familiar engraving of Shakespeare reproduced in the First Folio of his plays in 1623.

The Janssen Portrait (c1610)

The Janssen Portrait, a favorite contender in the 18th century, is now known to be a portrait of a gentleman of Shakespeare's time, later touched up with a high forehead to give him that Renaissance-genius look.