So we are in the curious position with William Shakespeare
of having three likenesses from which all others are derived:
two that aren’t very good by artists working years after
his death and one that is rather more compelling as a portrait
but that may well be of someone else altogether. The paradoxical
consequence is that we all recognize a likeness of Shakespeare
the instant we see one, and yet we don’t really know
what he looked like. It is like this with nearly every aspect of
his life and character: He is at once the best known and least
known of fi gures.
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