Is this really a portrait of William Shakespeare?
Shakespeare recreated in his own time from the Chandos portrait (Public domain)
A modern-day interpretation of Shakespeare
Shakespeare is a subject I’ve really been looking forward to. But I’ve always been thrown off by the lack of portraiture for this great man. We don’t have a single verified description or portrait of William Shakespeare from life - we pretty much only know what we know about him thanks to his friends gathering and publishing his works after his death. I’ve used the so-called Chandos portrait to recreate Shakespeare here - both in his own time and of course as a modern day man (I admit I love the pompous professor look on him). A full YouTube video will be coming soon detailing what we know about his appearance and which other portraits may be Shakespeare.
There is no provenance to this painting, but if it is Shakespeare, it would be the one and only likeness of him taken from life. Here are some reasons why Dr. Tarnya Cooper, a curator at the National Portrait Gallery, believes it might be him: The clothing the subject is wearing was popular between 1590 & 1610, the time when Shakespeare was having his greatest successes and therefore most likely to sit for a portrait. The gold earring suggests a “bohemian” appearance - common for a playwright. We can tell the subject is of reasonable wealth because of his all-back clothing. Black dye in large quantities was quite expensive.
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I also wanted to share another exciting collaboration between KLEIO and Royalty Now: Introducing A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This candle takes inspiration from its namesake, one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays—and recreates the fragrances of a well-known scene.
The thing I find fascinating about this candle is that these are all scents that Shakespeare would have been familiar with in his lifetime. In fact, it may even encourage you to experience Shakespeare’s plays in a new way…and gain a fresh perspective on how he incorporated the senses into his work.
I personally worked with KLEIO to create this one-of-a-kind candle. And I’m excited to finally share it with you.
Visit KLEIO.Global to learn more about the history of the candle, and of course to get one and see for yourself!