The Ashbourne portrait as it now appears after restoration.
Artist
Unknown
Year
1612
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
120 cm × 94.6 cm (47 in × 37+1⁄4 in)
Location
Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C.
The Ashbourne portrait is one of several portraits that have been falsely identified as portrayals of William Shakespeare. At least 60 such works had been offered for sale to the National Portrait Gallery in the 19th century within the first forty years of its existence; the Ashbourne portrait was one of these.[1] The portrait is now a part of the collection of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC.
The identity of the artist is unknown.[2] At some point the portrait was altered to cater to public demand for more pictures of the bard and to conform to 19th century ideas of Shakespeare.[3] The hair over the forehead was scraped out and painted over to create a bald patch. It was also lengthened at the sides, an appearance associated with Shakespeare. The date was also altered to fit Shakespeare's age. The coat of arms was painted over. In this form the painting bore the date 1611 and purported to show Shakespeare at the age of 47.[4]
In 1940, Charles Wisner Barrell argued on the basis of x-ray evidence that the portrait originally depicted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford and that this was evidence that Oxford was the true author of Shakespeare's plays. In 1979 the coat of arms was rediscovered following restoration. It was identified as that of Hugh Hamersley (1565–1636), Lord Mayor of London in 1627.
^Lee 1899, p. 382 n. 291c.
^Pressly 1993a.
^Pressly 1993a, pp. 54–5.
^Pressly 1993a, p. 54.
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