William Shakespeare

After Martin Droeshout the Younger British

19th century

Not on view

A watermark in the paper used for this print ("MICHALET") tells us that it is a nineteenth-century reproduction of Doeshout's famous portrait engraving. Made originally to embellish the title page of the First Folio (1623), the image portrays Shakespeare with a prominent forehead, long hair covering his ears, a mustache and mouche (patch of hair below his lower lip). He wears a starched white collar, and a doublet adorned with lace or braid and fastened with covered buttons. Since the original image was approved by actor friends of Shakespeare, who edited the 1623 publication, and accompanied by a laudatory verse written another contemporary, Ben Jonson, it is considered a good likeness.

Artwork Details

Title: William Shakespeare
Artist: After Martin Droeshout the Younger (British, 1601–after 1639)
Sitter: William Shakespeare (British, Stratford-upon-Avon 1564–1616 Stratford-upon-Avon)
Date: 19th century
Medium: Engraving
Dimensions: Plate: 7 5/8 × 6 3/8 in. (19.3 × 16.2 cm)
Sheet: 10 7/8 × 8 1/4 in. (27.7 × 20.9 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1917
Object Number: 17.3.756-1108
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Martin Droeshout the Younger

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