William Shakespeare

Sitterback to top

• William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Dramatist and poet. Sitter associated with 92 portraits.

Artistback to top

• Martin Droeshout (1601-1650?). Artist associated with 18 portraits.

This portraitback to top

This posthumous engraved portrait was first produced for the title page of the first complete publication of Shakespeare's plays in 1623, known as the First Folio (1623). The engraving was perhaps based on an existing portrait which has not been identified. This version of the engraving dates from the second or third editions of the plays in either 1632 or 1663-4.

Related worksback to top

• NPG D16530: William Shakespeare (impression from same plate as)

Linked publicationsback to top

• Cooper, John, Great Britons: The Great Debate, 2002, p. 45
• Edwards, Paul, Wyndham Lewis Portraits, 2008 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 3 July to 19 October 2008), p. 14
• Nicholl, Charles, Character Sketches: Elizabethan Writers, 1997, p. 6
• Nicholl, Charles, Insights: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries, 2005, p. 6
• Piper, David, The English Face, 1992, p. 59
• Saywell, David; Simon, Jacob, Complete Illustrated Catalogue, 2004, p. 558
• Strong, Roy, Tudor and Jacobean Portraits, 1969, p. 283

Linked displays and exhibitionsback to top

• Making History: Printed Portraiture in Tudor and Stuart Britain (7 July 2007 - 9 December 2007)