Restorers 'wiped away' precious details from rare William Shakespeare portraits
When the only known portrait of William Shakespeare was unveiled earlier this month, it was hailed by academics and fans alike as taking us a step closer to the true likeness of the great playwright.
Experts believed the newly discovered painting, called the Cobbe portrait, which was painted when the writer was still alive, and another version called the Folger portrait had both been altered after Shakespeare's death.
But it has emerged that art conservators who joined forces to restore the two portraits by removing the top layer of paint to reveal the "authentic" portraits beneath, were actually wiping away priceless insights into the changing appearance of Britain's greatest playwright.
The Art Newspaper claims that the images which had been painted on top of both portraits had actually been painted in Shakespeare's own lifetime and provided valuable information about how he looked as he aged.
The so-called "restoration" could now go down as one of the worst botches on record in the art world...
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Experts believed the newly discovered painting, called the Cobbe portrait, which was painted when the writer was still alive, and another version called the Folger portrait had both been altered after Shakespeare's death.
But it has emerged that art conservators who joined forces to restore the two portraits by removing the top layer of paint to reveal the "authentic" portraits beneath, were actually wiping away priceless insights into the changing appearance of Britain's greatest playwright.
The Art Newspaper claims that the images which had been painted on top of both portraits had actually been painted in Shakespeare's own lifetime and provided valuable information about how he looked as he aged.
The so-called "restoration" could now go down as one of the worst botches on record in the art world...