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After we published our episode here on That Shakespeare Life about the Duncan portrait of William Shakespeare, I received an email from Steve Wadlow, telling me about the history of a portrait that had been hanging in his family home for years that a visiting Shakespeare scholar indicated might be William Shakespeare. That scholar suggested Steve look into the provenance of the painting further. With no prior experience in Shakespeare history, or indeed the art world, Steve dove headlong into making connections that could help him unravel the mystery about where this painting had come from originally and exactly who was the person in the picture. Here today to tell us what he found out and whether or not this painting is of William Shakespeare is our guest, and newly minted art historian, Steve Wadlow.
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Steve Wadlow is the son of Peter Wadlow, who owned an antique, picture framing/restoration business in Harrow, London from the 1960s through to the 1990s and dabbled in small-scale art dealing, before an Alzheimer’s diagnosis closed his art career. Steve had picked up his father’s art collection and with the help of a team of scholars, professional art historians, and one intrepid documentary producer who has signed on to document the journey, they are on a quest to discover whether the Wadlow portrait is indeed a painting of Shakespeare. You can learn more about their journey and connect with Steve at the links to their website in the show notes for today’s episode.
I’ll be asking Steve Wadlow about:
- When did you first discover the painting in your father’s house might be worth investigating further?
- It was really surprising to me that none of your family—not you, not your parents who owned this portrait—had any interest in Shakespeare personally, so when you decided to investigate, where did you turn first for more information?
- How do you know the painting is an original and not a copy, since the period in which this painting was done—the 16th or 17th century, it was quite common for a professional artist to duplicate the work of someone else for distribution? So, in essence, it could be an original painting that was done deliberately to copy another, so how do you sort out those specifics?
- …and more!
Resources Recommended by Our Guest
Katherine Duncan Jones — Portraits of Shakespeare
Searching for Shakespeare by Tarnya Cooper with Stanley Wells and James Shaprio
Additional Related Resources Cassidy Thought You Might Enjoy:
Portraits of Shakespeare by James Boaden
A Study of Shakespeare’s Portraits by William Page
Related Episode:
Only Portrait of Shakespeare Done While He Was Alive
Duncan Phillips is the art gallery owner who recently displayed the Danby Portrait, and he joins us to share about the history of the Danby Portrait, it’s connections to Shakespeare, and the recent evidence that’s been uncovered that suggests the portrait is not only of William Shakespeare, but that it was likely painted from life.
Lost Aldrovandi Portrait Found
One antiques dealer in Norfolk uncovers a lost painting from the 1590s when he decided to xray a seemingly insignificant painting from his collection.
Related Episode From Our Back Catalog
Rachel Danker, from the Folger Shakespeare Library, helps us unpack the portraits of William Shakespeare to explain just what was the role of pictures and paintings of individuals in the bard’s lifetime, and what can we learn about Shakespeare from these historic paintings.
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Hello there, I’m Cassidy Cash. Welcome to That Shakespeare Life, this week is another episode of DIY History, where we try out games, recipes, and crafts from the life of William Shakespeare. The advent of paper arrived in Europe with the Printing Press, in the 16th century. Paper as we know it today was made…
That’s it for this week! Thank you for listening. I’m Cassidy Cash, and I hope you learn something new about the bard. I’ll see you next time!
What is the lacework on the collar? What is a description of the earring? Is the bow decorative, or does it serve a purpose in the top?
Hello Ann! Thank you for listening and taking an interest in the portrait. I have asked Steve to have a look at your question and see if he can provide some insights in regards to the clothing details in this painting.
I would have loved to been able to ask these questions on the air during our recording with Steve. If you’re a regular listener to our show, you may want to join as a Member or a Patrons of That Shakespeare Life. Supporters get notified of upcoming shows and can submit questions like these to be asked during the interviews. Sign up today that http://www.patreon.com/thatshakespearelife ($5/month) or join us as a member at http://www.cassidycash.com/member ($49/month–in depth Shakespeare history club that includes several other benefits in addition to studio-level access to the making of our show.) I’m sending out the September recordings here soon and you can submit your questions there to be asked on air!
Hi Ann,
Thank you for your interest . We are not sure of the particular type of Lace, Italian has been suggested by some, but any suggestions are welcome. It has been pointed out that the lace design is more likely circa 1610 rather than earlier, however the latest detailed scans that are still being investigated are indicating that the lace part along with the earring may have been added after the original portrait was painted. Ie added a few years later perhaps even by a different artist. This is intriguing as without the lace part, the inner part is more like the Droeshout collar. The earring appears to be glass, perhaps pearl but to me more glass. However when, as mentioned above latest tests suggest the earring may have been added later, this is just the jewel and the gold hoop appears to be original to the portrait as in, when first painted.
Regarding the bow, this is another very interesting area, as a costume expert for the period noted that she had not seen collar ties showing in this way before, insomuch as poking through the button holes. Some have observed that the bow may be a symbol for a dragonfly amd the ties are hidden to give the impression of free flight. But we just do not know. There are other symbols in the costumes, we suspect. These are quincunxes (perhaps five wounds of Christ) and one of the stars in the lace has six points whereas all the others have four. Any observations or ideas are most welcome. Very best wishes. Steve wadlow.
Has your guest investigated the strange appearance of the left eye in the Wadlow portrait? Is this an odd perspective of the artist, or perhaps a medical condition? I immediately compared this portrait with that of the Droeshout painting, and the subjects left eye in each painting appears “odd.” Is this an important factor?
Hello Jim! That’s such an interesting perspective! I’m not sure what the significance of the left eye might be for this portrait, (though I agree, it does look like maybe a lazy eye?) I have let Steve know he has some questions from listeners here on the show notes page. Hopefully, he will have a chance to answer this question more thoroughly for you!
Hi Jim, thank you for your question and interest.
Yes, we agree, the sitters left eye and surround is interesting and very similar to the Droeshout and discussions over history regarding if Shakespeare dod have a problem as such with that eye or surround. Also it is intriguing that there are no or very little signs of eyebrows. The sitters right eye is the only part of the face , along with the side of that as in profile of face has had some point been “touched up”. This is very interesting as when compared to the Droeshout as can be seen on the video merger that is the only part that really differs from the droeshout. The merger and the x ray showing this are on our website here. Ideas and observations are very welcome. Either here or via website. Thanks again. Steve
Jim, I forgot to put the link to page showing merger etc. here it is.
https://www.isthiswilliamshakespeare.com/science