A portrait recently came to light that experts say is the only portrait of Shakespeare painted during his lifetime, and so the only accurate depiction of how he really looked. As a friend who passed this story along observed, "Shakespeare was a babe!" I don't know if I'd go that far, but he does look markedly better in the newly discovered portrait than in many previous depictions, like the above...
The painting has belonged to the Cobbes family for several centuries, but they never realized who the subject of the portrait was until one family member saw a reproduction of his family's painting at a Shakespeare exhibit at a gallery. Now, one expert says they are 90 percent sure the subject of this portrait is Shakespeare, and x-rays and infrared anaylsis confirm the painting was made in 1610, when the Bard was 47. Also, the Cobbes family is distantly related to Shakespeare's only known patron, so it's totally him.
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