Wadlow Is Back

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/30038654/window-cleaner-portrait-william-shakespeare-worth-200m

This week, I spotted an article in The Sun about a “new” Shakespeare portrait that could be the “first ever”. So you know I’m clicking that.

And my first thought is, “I think I’ve seen that before?” But I can’t quite place it. I remind myself what the Flowers Portrait looks like — nope, that’s not the one.

So I do a reverse Google image search and quickly learn that this has been dubbed the Wadlow Portrait, and now it really rings a bell. I think I’ve corresponded with the owner, in fact. I go search my archives, and sure enough, June 2018, “What’s this about a Wadlow Portrait?“

I had to laugh at the opening disclaimer I wrote, even back then:

I had to double check my archives because sometimes what I think is new, I actually wrote about years ago. But so far the word “Wadlow” doesn’t appear in my archives.

Everything old is new again, it seems! Now I’m checking my archive because I did write about it years ago 🙂

Anyway, that was a nice thread because the owners (I think that’s the right word here. Representatives?) joined the conversation and offered plenty of resources for investigation.

A question dawns on me this time, though, that didn’t the first time. According to the new article, the painting is dated to 1595, when Shakespeare would have been 31. Where does that sit on the timeline? How wealthy was Shakespeare at that point? Would he be sitting for a portrait (and a fancy one at that) at this point in his life/career? I honestly don’t know, I’m asking. I assume that such portraits were expensive, and done only for people who (a) deserved and/or (b) could afford them.

According to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Shakespeare had produced Henry VI Part 1, Henry VI Part 2, Henry VI Part 3, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Titus Andronicus as well as his long poems. None of those plays, obviously are what we today think of as the most popular / famous. His poems at this time are dedicated to his patron, Henry Wriothesley. Would HW have paid for a portrait of Shakespeare at this stage of his career? Would Shakespeare have used his own money, and if he had his own money, would he still have had a patron? I’m honestly asking.

We know that at some point in his career Shakespeare was indeed a very wealthy man, purchasing New Place, one of the largest houses in Stratford. But this was in 1597, a few years after the Wadlow portrait is dated. Would a few extra years have made a significant change in his standing? Several of his most well-known plays (Richard III, Dream, Romeo and Juliet) date to this period.

There is a website Is This Shakespeare? dedicated to the Wadlow portrait. I honestly have no idea. I am neither academic nor historian, just a fascinated fan Whenever there’s a possibility that some new aspect of Shakespeare’s life has been discovered, I’m going to be curious.