Last update: 01/06/28

"Shakespeare is a drunken savage with some imagination

whose plays please only in London and Canada." Voltaire

SHAKESPEARE.CA

CELEBRATING SHAKESPEARE IN CANADA

The Sanders Portrait, claimed to be the only portrait of William Shakespeare painted while he was alive, goes on display at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario on June 21^st.

The exhibit, running until the end of September and entitled "Shakespeare?", will allow the public to view the portrait for themselves and decide for themselves if it is another sensationalist fake or the most sensational find in years. The portrait, owned by an Ontario descendent of the painter, John Sanders, has been tested by the Canadian Conservation Institute and is, in fact, done with paint and on wood that dates from the early 1600s. A label on the back of the portrait states that the picture is of "Shaksper" at the age of 39 and was painted in 1603. Testing was done on the label as well.

"By engaging in a project like this, the AGO is making an important statement about what museums can be for the public: a lively forum for open-ended debate, discussion and discovery," Matthew Teitelbaum, the gallery's director, said. "We are pleased if we can play a role in the resolution of this fascinating art-historical mystery."

The owner was delighted with the gallery's request to show the painting. "I'm sure our painting will create a lot of interest," he said. "This will afford all lovers of Shakespeare an opportunity to come to the gallery and see what I believe, based on what our research has uncovered, to be the true image of Shakespeare at age 39."

The cost is affordable, as well. The painting is being shown as part of the museum's main collection and is covered by its pay-what-you-can admission policy.

In his book "False Impressions – The Hunt for Big-Time Art Fakes", author Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, explained why authentication of the picture may take months or years:

"Why do knowledgeable collectors and experienced curators get fooled anyway? Three words tell the whole story: need, speed, and greed." He follows shortly thereafter with a very telling sentence about why fakes are so common: "The world wants to be fooled."

Everyone in the world would love to have a real picture of Shakespeare. That is the need. The speed aspect of fraud is to create a rush for people to buy the picture without thinking or questioning its authenticity. Finally, the greed of wanting it and wanting now – before anyone else and maybe I can make a lot of money on it.

One of the more critical aspects of the story of the Sander’s Portrait is the history of how the painting came to be discovered. This is one of the keys to determining whether or not the picture is a fake.

"What do art forgers need to do to be successful? As literary fakebuster Anthony Grafton has nicely described, forgers have a limited range of tasks they must perform. They must impart to the work the aura of credibility and the physical appearance of something dramatically older than it is. They must keep in mind what the work would have looked like when it was originally made and what it should look like now that it’s been ‘found’. They must also provide a plausible explanation of where the piece came from and how it fits into the jigsaw puzzle of other surviving works by the same artist as well as similar or comparable works of the same period."

So far, the scientific tests have confirmed the following:

The picture was done around the beginning of the 17^th century.

The painting was not put on top of an existing painting – it is all original work.

The wood used as the canvass likely comes from the proper era based on ring sizes.

No compounds or chemicals were used in the paint that didn’t exist in Shakespeare’s time.

BARD ON THE BEACH – A great summer festival in Vancouver (I’ve got my tickets!)

Shakespeare Internet Editions on the Web – An extensive research site by Professor Michael Best at the University of Victoria.

ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS – The internationally acclaimed "Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (Abridged)". Catch the show if you can!

 SHAKESPEARE ON THE SASKATCHEWAN

The Stratford Festival – Ontario’s wonderful theatre

About.Com – Shakespeare Resource Site

Live Shakespearean theater along the shores of Harrison Hot Springs BC Canada.

The Folger Shakespeare Library

Shakespeare Biography on-line – published by Folger

Eating Shakespeare: Recipes and More From the Bard's Kitchen

An interesting article in North Vancouver’s North Shore News

The Globe Theatre – the theatre in London

Early printed collections:

Links to Go – Shakespeare links

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Shakespeare Online Reference Site – with a nice layout

Shakespeare in Action – "Canada’s Leader in Shakespeare Education"

Coined by Shakespeare – "Words and Meanings first coined by the bard"

Shakespeare Illustrated – A work in progress, explores nineteenth-century paintings, criticism and productions of Shakespeare

The Furness Memorial (Shakespeare) Library, Department of Special Collections, University of Pennsylvania

Shakespeare Magazine – A magazine for teachers and enthusiasts.

And the debate about the "true" author

Elizabethan Studies

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