Interesting...I think that it is strange it took so long to have discovered a painting like this, but it was quite an interesting picture as it differs to many of the Shakespeare portrait's we see today.

I love when I find new facts on Mahalo and I am actually quite interested in Shakespeare. My sister has done a project about him and noticed that there was very little facts and graphics that could be included - so I can now show her this.

cjd
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I found it to be quite interesting, especially the collar. Note the receding hairline, the brown beard, the straight nose. Why is his hair a different color? When I saw the date it occurred to me to wonder if Shakespeare's writings contributed to the Puritan backlash a couple of decades later.
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It's certainly a flattering portrait, and is already raising a good deal of speculation regarding his health, wealth, etc.
After reading some of the commentary, there are a lot of conclusions being drawn that I can't give credence to. For instance, the wealth indicated by his apparent well-being and expensive lace. How do we know this isn't a portrait in costume, or perhaps rented/donated by someone? Could this be a flattering bit of artistry depicting Shakespeare as he "should" be revered, not as he actually was? Maybe the old time version of the "after" effect of a "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" episode? Okay, that last was for a giggle, but it was intended to induce more speculation, not establish certainty based on a single new image.
I'm probably a little over-skeptical on this subject though. It seems like any time a discovery is made of an item or bit of architecture for which we don't know the function, the "conclusion" is drawn that the piece was religious in nature. I've learned to cast around for other possible explanations so I don't get locked into a false assumption.
He shore is pretty in the new picture tho, ain't he?
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I like the new one. He looks interesting, intelligent, and successful. Not that he looks unsuccessful in the other portrait. But in the new one you suspect that he has firsthand knowledge of some of the romantic entanglements in is plays!

He also looks like he's evaluating the viewer.
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He looks just like Ben Affleck! How did they know?!?!
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John Aubrey described him as a “handsome, well shaped man”, a description that fits this portrait far better then the earlier portraits, where he is depicted as dumpy, ill-shaven and slightly weary-looking writer.
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He looks much like I thought he would. He's either been quite successful, hence having a portrait completed or he borrowed the clothes. His eyes seem a little weird, like his left is a bit of a wandering eye. Almost got a bit of a Mona Lisa smile going, a bit of a smirk in there. Nice to see an actual likeness.
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