As well in brasse as he hath hit
His face, the print would then surpasse
All that was ever writ in brasse;
But since he cannot, reader, looke
Not on his picture, but his booke.”
As a work of art it is by no means skilful, and is confessedly inferior not only to other engravings of that day, but also to other portraits by Martin Droeshout.
That it bore some likeness to Shakespeare as an actor, I do not doubt, but that it resembled him as a private individual when off the stage, I cannot bring myself to believe. The straight hair and shaven chin which are not found in other portraits having good claims to be considered authentic, and the unnaturally high forehead, which would be caused by the actor’s wearing the wig of an old man partially bald, suggest at once that when the original portrait was taken, from which Droeshout engraved, Shakespeare was dressed as if about to sustain a part in which he was thought to excel as an actor.
Boaden has conjectured that this portrait represents Shakespeare in the character of old Knowell, in Ben
Jonson’s Every Man in his Humour, a part which he is known to have played in 1598, and this would easily account for Ben Jonson’s commendation.[6] This conjecture is so extremely probable, that I have no hesitation in endorsing it.
We come, then, now to “the Chandos portrait.” With the longest pedigree of any, it possesses at least as much collateral evidence of probability, and is, moreover, important as belonging to the nation.[7] It has been traced back to the possession of Shakespeare’s godson, William, afterwards Sir William, Davenant, and all that seems to be wanting materially, is the artist’s name. The general opinion is, that it was painted either by Burbage or Taylor, both of whom were fellow-players of Shakespeare. It is styled the Chandos portrait from having come to the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery from the collection of the Duke of Chandos and Buckingham, through the Earl of Ellesmere, by whom it was purchased and presented. The history of the picture, so far as it can be ascertained, is as follows:—