Shakespeare's Face - Tapa dura

This is the biography of a portrait - a literary mystery - and the stunning discovery that has ignited popular debate around the world. In March 2001, author Stephanie Nolen revealed the existence of an attractive painting, held by a Canadian family for 12 generations, which may be the only known portrait of Shakespeare painted during his lifetime. Although he remains one of the most admired and celebrated men in the world, there are only two images of Shakespeare generally accepted as authentic, both made after his death. Both show what Mark Twain called a 'bladder-faced' burgher devoid of genius. The man in the newly-discovered portrait - reputed to be by one John Sanders of Worcester - is keen-eyed and mischievous-looking, his wry smile and jaunty jacket more suggestive of the brilliant, humorous, humane man who wrote the greatest plays in the English language. Shakespeare's Face tells the riveting story of how the painting came to reside in the home of a retired engineer - whose grandmother kept the family treasure under her bed - and how he embarked on authenticating the portrait. Six years of painstaking forensic studies confirm that the painting does indeed date from around 1600 and has not been altered since. And to weigh the evidence, a remarkable group of leading Shakespeare scholars and art historians have contributed fresh, lively, accessible and entertaining chapters to delve into one of the most fascinating literary mysteries of our times: 'Is this the face of genius?'

Stephanie Nolen is a journalist with the Canadian Globe and Mail. This is her second book. The contributors include: - Stanley Wells, Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - Jonathan Bate, King Alfred Professor of English Literature at Liverpool University - Tarnya Cooper, Assistant Curator of Art at University College London - Andrew Gurr, Professor of English at Reading University and Chief Academic Adviser to the Globe Project