PAST EXHIBITION ARCHIVE
Searching for Shakespeare
2 March - 29 May 2006
Wolfson Gallery
Admission £8 / £5.25
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William Shakespeare
attributed to John Taylor, c.1610
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In 1856 the first portrait presented
to the newly-founded National Portrait Gallery was a compelling
painting considered to be of William Shakespeare, known as the
"Chandos" portrait. At this date Shakespeare's appearance
had been a matter of national interest for around two centuries.
Yet the identity of this picture is still considered unproven
and today we have no certain lifetime portrait of England's most
famous poet and playwright. On the occasion of the National Portrait
Gallery's 150th anniversary in 2006, an exhibition on the biography
and portraiture will be staged at the Gallery.
Alongside the Chandos portrait,
five other "contender" portraits purporting to represent
Shakespeare will be displayed together for the first time. The
exhibition will present the results of new technical analysis
and research on several of these pictures casting new light on
the search for Shakespeare's authentic appearance. Shakespeare's
life can only be partially reconstructed, but this exhibition
will also attempt to search for the Shakespeare his contemporaries
knew by looking closely at his own circle. The exhibition will
bring together original documents relating to Shakespeare's life
and portraits of his contemporaries including actors, patrons
and other playwrights, in order to place the poet not in our
historical imagination, but within his own time.
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