Later portraits.
Of the numerous extant paintings which have been described as portraits of Shakespeare, only the ‘Droeshout’ portrait and the Ely House portrait, both of which are at Stratford, bear any definable resemblance to the folio engraving or the bust in the church. [291c] In spite of their
admitted imperfections, those presentments can alone be held indisputably to have been honestly designed to depict the poet’s features. They must be treated as the standards of authenticity in judging of the genuineness of other portraits claiming to be of an early date.