Cobbe portrait

The so-called Cobbe portrait is a painting from the 17th century by an unknown artist. The identity of the sitter is unknown. According to the Shakespeare scholar Stanley Wells it is to concern William Shakespeare.

After Wells it was " highly likely " the only painting preserved, written in Shakespeare's own lifetime. It was named after the family Cobbe, in whose possession it has been for more than 300 years. The two portraits that were previously regarded as only authentic images of Shakespeare, are the so-called " Droeshout Stitch " on the front side of the first complete edition of Shakespeare's works ( 1623 First Folio ), and a bust in Holy Trinity Church in his hometown Stratford- upon- Avon ( approximately 1623, renovated in the 18th century).

The Cobbe family was long assumed, the paintings show the seafarer Walter Raleigh, whose name was written on the reverse side of the picture. After a visit to the Folger Shakespeare Library Alec Cobbe discovered the similarity between the display there so-called Janssen portrait and the Cobbe picture and contacted the Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stanley Wells. Then, guided by X-ray and infrared studies showed that the Cobbe portrait dates from around 1610, when Shakespeare was 46 years old. There are three copies of this painting, suggesting, according to Wells, that there had been at the sitter to a famous person. In addition, many paintings of the Cobbe collection from the estate of the Third Earl of Southampton, Henry Wriothesley came, including another portrait, which is supposed to represent the count. The connection between the paintings and the Earl, who was a patron of Shakespeare, suggested that it was formerly his property.

The write-up is, however, seen by many researchers with skepticism, not least due to the low similarity between the Cobbe portrait and the amount classified as authentic Droeshout stitch. Dr. Tarnya Cooper of the National Portrait Gallery considers it likely that the poet Thomas Overbury portrait show what you now think also from the Janssen portrait.

Swell

• William Shakespeare
• Paintings (17th century)
• Portraiture