Portrait of the playwright after the original done by Droeshout. This example produced ca. 1810, on thin laid paper. Sheet size: 15" x 9 3/4". Matted, 18" x 14".
The Droeshout Portrait is depicted on the frontispiece of all Four Folios and is printed alongside, here rendered smaller and above, a poem To The Reader by Shakespeare’s friend Ben Jonson in which he praises the accuracy of the engraving’s likeness stating that the engraver has managed to “outdo the life” and has “hit his face” accurately. Despite this, the portrait squeezes the author into formal court costume, which has the effect of making Shakespeare look somewhat stiff and unnatural, and this has led some people to question the authenticity of the Droeshout Portrait.
Portrait of the playwright after the original done by Droeshout. This example produced ca. 1810, on thin laid paper. Sheet size: 15" x 9 3/4". Matted, 18" x 14".
The Droeshout Portrait is depicted on the frontispiece of all Four Folios and is printed alongside, here rendered smaller and above, a poem To The Reader by Shakespeare’s friend Ben Jonson in which he praises the accuracy of the engraving’s likeness stating that the engraver has managed to “outdo the life” and has “hit his face” accurately. Despite this, the portrait squeezes the author into formal court costume, which has the effect of making Shakespeare look somewhat stiff and unnatural, and this has led some people to question the authenticity of the Droeshout Portrait.