, 1873-11-16
rHE FATE oF SHAKESPEARE.

THE FACE OF SHAKESPEARE.
It rill be m announcement of great intcroes
% all shahspoarian scholars, and undoubtedly to
i'll who road shakapoaro's works, that at last 4
representation Of his face has been produced
yl,ioh can 10 relied upon ~ a faithful likoneas.
In connection with this fact, 1t has also been e.
Eablfshed that the celebrated pictures OF him
ybicl, nrs universally accepted as standards |
,nly romoto1y resemble him; that tho ordinary |
portrnits and busts which abound, tho world |
oyer aro really cariontures and that shakspeaEe1
forehead WINS dlafgurod BY on ugly wound Tho
history Of tho mannor In which thia ropredonta- +!
lion haa boon produced iH cxtromoly interesting,
ind substantially Is as follows: - ....
In 1s4s, tho effects OF hn old German family,
Won Koaaelatadt by name, whose family-seat waa
noar Cologne, were disposed Of by auction. Among
those etfoots was picture, datcd 1857, labelod,
" The Death-Ded Of tho Great English Poet,
william Shakespeare" representing the pdet on
his dcath-bod, crowned with laurel. After tho
sale of tho picture, 1t was not heard OF again
until 1917, when II was purchased In England BY
b Mr. Ludwig Beckor. He, became worry much
Interested In 1t, aud, after examining 1t very
carofr1ly, VAS .conyincod that the reprosenta-
ton Of tho faco in the picture must hago beon
takon from a cast Ho thereupou instituted In
ouiries, which brought to light tho following
facts: First, that mambor Of tho Won Koa-
solstadt family WAS attached to an Embassy from
his country tp tho Court OF James T. ut the
time OF tho death Of shakespeare. Second,
tint D wax mold was taken Of tho faco after
tloath; and, third, that plaster mask Of tho
poet had hung sido by side with tho picture for
many yoars, which bud tho dnto Of Shakspearo'a'
death On It. He ut once reasoned that tho mask
had boon made from the wax mold, andfor two
years ho kept up an indefatigablo search for 1t.
He waH finally rewarded by discovering 1t In a
pawnbrokor's shop, among nails, old iron, and
all sorts Of odds and ends. 1t was greatly mutt
lated, pieces being missing from various fca-
tureB, but on the back Of 1t WAS tho date A. D.
161o, aid, upon closely examining it, there were
found indubitable proofs that It Ind boon takon
from wax mold. Tlis cast Is now in the library
Of Prince Louis Of Heaae-D Darmatadt, although 1t
Ia still tho property Of Dr.. Booker, now tho Pri-
vato Secretary to Princess Alice, tho wife Of
Prince Louis.
From tie photographs OF this mask, Mr. Will
inn Page tho distinguished New York artist,
has constructed maHl which is faithful copy,
and from this copy, and tho standard reprosen-
tatlons Of Shakespeare, ho has painted portrait
which is Just now creating very general mud
interesting discussion In the world Of art. In
performing tlis labor Of love, upon which ho
has been at work two years, Iii. Pago consulted
oil thaae works in comparison with tho mask,
using only such points a. agreed, Or to his
artistic eye could be properly modified. Tho
first Of these works is tho Droeshout engraving,
which appeared In tho first complete edition Of
lis phys, publiahed by Hemingo and Condoll,
two Of his friends and fallow-actorp, in 1928
Although 1t is very cruds picture. md has
boon called ':.:an abominablo libcl," it
has certain correspondence with tho
stratford buat and tho ohnudoa portrait.
G1e tormor Is veil known, and, as will ho renom-
bered, "vau originally painted in imitation Of
nature, but wus atterWerAds d pqintteif eyer with
uhito pnnt, by Malone, for which operation ho
has boen ridiculed over since. The ohandoH
portrait waa painted from Life when Shakespeare
was about 40 yoars Of ago, BY John Taylor, 2
brother Of Joseph Taylor, who WAS tho original
Hamlet. It became tho property OF tho Duke Of
Chaudos by marriage, thence descended to the
Buckingham fnmily, md is now tho property Of
tho National Portrait Society Of England. Before
tho discovery. OF tho 1ockor lm'ask, these throa
| works wero tho only recognized portraits OF
Shakespeare, although portraits had beon made
| by Jansen aud Sir Godfrey Kuollor, which, how
ever, vere only notifications Of tho ohandoa
| picture,
i. Tho discovery Of the eear on tho forehead
| by Mr. Page ia one OF the most remarkable fen
| turos Of Ills interesting atudy. Hc ut frat r.
gardod 1t As a hloteh, or, perhaps, = chip out oi
tho original mask. but more careful scrutiny
convinced him that 1t was . deep scar, and some
Of tito most ekillful surgeons IN tho country
corroborato Mr. Page's views Still furtho'
strtengthepjpg this position, is tho fact that
whom the ohandos portrait yles cleaned and N, 70
stored there WAS positive evidence to ahoy tha
tyo pears bud boon originally painted On the
forehead. Here again tho mask corresponds, a'
tho traces Of anothor scar eau be seen very eaHil
on #, and +lls fact ALSO giyos p9gint to the peE
sonsl aonpet commenniug: "
Yonr love aud pity doth the tapyaaion au
Which vulgar scaudul stamped upon my bFeg:
The Kesaelstaat musk furthermore exaet},
corresponds with othor e1presalons to 10 foun'
10 Shakespeare, such "a "My dropping eyelids,
'"My hoavy oyslide," the changing OF th
neither lip" the ohook and forehead "batod an'
chopped With tanned antiquity" tho seat Q
memory characterized ~ " globo,' &c' Q
tic nask itself, tho following CLOSE assoslptlo
has beeu furnished:
The forehead Is tho most striking foaturc It Is q
tronoly hgl, full, mud shonghta'. T4Q capacity
denotes tp astonishing, at the t,rst glimpse ql
tasncd Of It, The space between the two eyobro"a Il
unusually broad. Thon9ht heraelf scems to he'