The Chandos Portrait of William Shakespeare
Attributed to John Taylor (died 1651) · About 1600 to 1610
A man in his forties looks out at you from a dark background. He wears a plain black doublet with a soft white collar, open at the neck, and a small gold earring glints in his left ear. His hair is receding, his beard is neatly trimmed, and his expression is quiet, watchful and slightly amused. This is the face most people carry in their heads when they think of William Shakespeare, and it is the only painted portrait with a serious claim to have been made while he was alive.
The handling is modest and direct, the work of a competent painter rather than a court artist. Look at the eyes, which are moist and lively, and at the way the light catches the earring and the untied collar strings. The earring was a fashion among poets and adventurers of the time, a small hint of the theatre world rather than the court. The canvas has been cleaned and retouched over the centuries, so the surface is worn, but the character of the sitter survives intact.
The portrait takes its name from the Dukes of Chandos, who owned it in the eighteenth century, and it is said to have passed from the actor William Davenant, who liked to hint that he was Shakespeare's godson or even his natural son. In eighteen fifty six the Earl of Ellesmere gave it to the newly founded gallery as its very first acquisition, which is why it carries the number one in the collection. Stand here and you are looking at the founding object of the whole museum.
Did You Know? The Chandos portrait is registered as number one in the collection because it was the first work the gallery ever received, presented in the year of its foundation.
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