William Shakespeare
(1564 - 1616)

To end this Shakespearean month lets have a look at some portraits of the bard:
 

The Chandos portrait is the most famous of the portraits that are believed to depict William Shakespeare . Painted between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. It is named after the 3rd Duke of Chandos, who formerly owned the painting. The portrait was given to the National Portrait Gallery, London on its foundation in 1856, and it is listed as the first work in its collection.

Portrait of William Shakespeare
1610
Oil on canvas
55,2 x 43,8 cm
National Portrait Gallery
https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw11574

This was long thought to be the only portrait of William Shakespeare that had any claim to have been painted from life, until another possible life portrait, the Cobbe portrait, was revealed in 2009. The portrait is known as the 'Chandos portrait' after a previous owner, James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. It was the first portrait to be acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in 1856. The artist may be by a painter called John Taylor who was an important member of the Painter-Stainers' Company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_(painter)

 

 The Cobbe portrait is an early Jacobean panel painting of a gentleman which has been argued to be a life portrait of William Shakespeare. It is displayed at Hatchlands Park in Surrey, a National Trust property, and the portrait is so-called because of its ownership by Charles Cobbe, Church of Ireland (Anglican) Archbishop of Dublin (1686–1765). There are numerous early copies of the painting, most of which were once identified as Shakespeare.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobbe_portrait

The Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) by an unknown artist
C. 1610
Oil on panel
54 x 38 cm
National Trust, Hatchlands

Martin Droeshout
(1601 – c.1650)
 

Martin Droeshout was an English engraver of Flemish descent, who is best known as illustrator of the title portrait for William Shakespeare's collected works, the First Folio of 1623, edited by John Heminges and Henry Condell, fellow actors of the Bard. Nevertheless, Droeshout produced other more ambitious designs in his career.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Droeshout

The Droeshout portrait of William Shakespeare as it appears on the title page of the first folio. 

This is the final, or second state, of the engraving.
1623
Engraving
34 x 22,5 cm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droeshout_portrait