Will the real Shakespeare please stand up

Is this a Shakespeare that we see before us? Experts certainly seem to think so, saying the 400 year old portrait of the English playwright is the only authentic representation made during his lifetime.

Until recently only two images of the Bard had been accepted as genuine, both painted after Shakespeare’s death. It’s thought the much a do about artwork was painted in 1610, six years before shakespeare’s death at 52. The picture has been in the Irish Cobbe family, who are distantly related to the playwright, for centuries.

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