Shakespeare will get his real face back

From the book “Venice. History of water and land"

London's National Portrait Gallery plans to restore a lifetime portrait of English playwright William Shakespeare.

According to experts, the image has changed over several centuries of the painting's existence. Shakespeare's face does not look the same as it was originally depicted. The beard and hair could be lengthened. The artists who worked with the painting all this time sought to give Shakespeare an appearance in accordance with his description.

The canvas became the property of the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1856 and has never been restored. Experts plan to restore not only the image, but also the canvas. The director of restoration company Fine Art, Chris Bill, warned that the consequences of restoring the painting could be "shocking" and that often the original restored images may look different.

The painting was probably painted by John Taylor between 1600 and 1610, when Shakespeare was 46 years old. It is believed that this is the only portrait for which Shakespeare sat. This image is also called the "Chands Portrait" of Shakespeare or the "Chandos Portrait" after the former owner of the Duke of Chandos.