THE EYELID PROTUBERANCES
In addition to the major face scars shown in Fig. 2 another face landmark described by Hammerschmidt-Hummel as the WS eyelid disease affecting both eyes, all the pictures considered do present the left and right eyelid protuberances resulting from the cancerous disease (Fig. 3 white or black arrows).
Fig. 3, A magnification of the eyelid area of from top to bottom in the distinct Droeshout engraving, the Flower painting in black and white, Sanders painting and the Wadlow painting showing various stages the eyelid disease.
THE LOWER LIP SPOT(S)
Hammerschmidt-Hummel has mentioned three sizeable yellowish spots resulting probably from an immune disease on the lower lip of sitter in the the Flower painting. The imperfection(s) at the level of the bottom lip is visible in all these WS pictures (Fig. 4).
A B C D
Fig. 4, WS lower lip immune disease shown from left to right in the distinct Droeshout engraving (A), the Flower (B), Sanders (C) and the Wadlow paintings(D). The major spot in each picture is identified by a black arrow.
The major spot is quite big in the Droeshout engraving (Fig. 4A); then in the Flower painting (Fig. 4B) a red spot is surrounded by other whitish spots; in the younger WS seen in the Sanders painting the inflamation appears as a single major red spot on the lower lip (Fig. 4C); while faint imflamation areas are observed in the Wadlow painting (Fig. 4D). Like the eyelid protuberances this lower lip facial feature is another proof that those WS representations do describe the same person.
By the way while showing WS mouth, for Sharp Ogden the mouth unusual shape described as a ‘’cupid’s bow’’ and observed in the Stratford bust, the Chandos painting and the Droeshout engraving was a ‘’decided characteristic.’’ of WS’s face. That ‘’cupid’s bow’’ mouth shape is also found in all newly discovered WS paintings including for instance the Sanders, Wadlow, Hilliard and Oliver miniatures paintings. The Flower painting also has that particular mouth shape.
All paintings reported as describing WS but having a very smooth face with no scar or sign of eyelid or lower lip diseases might be real portraits of WS and very nice to look at but they are artistic visions rather than actual likelinesses of WS.
THE VISUAL FACE RECOGNITION (VFR) COMPARISONS
The VFR is a powerful tool visual face recognition software developped by the late Robert J. Schmitt Jr. who was an expert in that technology.
The tool does the work automatically, in order to minimize any user involvement. The concept behind the software is deceptively simple: 1) by finding the center of the eyes on both images with the help of a magnifier that one can move with a mouse, the software is able to normalize images; 2) if necessary the software also rotates the faces as best as possible over each other in order to put the eyes on the same horizontal plane; 3) then the pictures are placed so that a direct comparison can be done by sliding each image over each other as the user sees fit; 4) and a full superposition of the pictures can also be done with the software allowing for close comparison. So the basis of this software is to adjust each picture to the same interpupillary distance (IPD) which is a constant value in adulthood. The rest of the comparison is done automatically.
That VFR approach has been used already successfully to compare the Sanders painting of WS with the most accepted portrait of WS i.e. the first state of the Droeshout engraving, the Hilliard’s miniature, the Stratford portrait, the Chandos and the Wadlow paintings as well as few others.
The VFR comparisons between the Flower painting in black and white and the Droeshout engraving are shown in Fig. 5. Both pictures do fit very well. Very similar results to the Fig. 5 are obtained when the Sanders painting is compared to the Flower painting with the VFR software (not shown).
Fig. 5, Screen captures of the VFR comparisons between the Flower painting and the distinct Droeshout engraving. Either side by side (top six panels) or after overlay of both pictures (bottom). To zoom in on the pictures hold the CTRL key of your keyboard while scrolling with the mouse wheel.
The results shown in Fig. 3 to 5 do bring strong supports to HammerschmidtHummel claiming that the Flower painting is the model used by Droeshout.
In a previous study when the VFR was used to compare the first state of the Droeshout engraving to the Sanders painting and already 16 face similarities were highlighted, this new study using instead the distinct Droeshout engraving adds the eyelid and lower lip diseases plus the face scars under the left and right eyes. The Fig. 6 shows how well the Sanders painting and that distinct Droeshout
Fig. 6, Screen captures of the VFR comparisons between the Droeshout engraving and the Sanders painting. Either side by side (top six panels) or after overlay of both pictures (bottom).
engraving do merge together following the VFR comparisons. As expected due to
Fig. 7, Screen captures of the VFR comparisons between the Droeshout engraving and the Wadlow painting. Either side by side (top six panels) or after overlay of both pictures (bottom).
the aging process the mouth in the Droeshout engraving is just a bit lower than the one in the Sanders painting. Indeed as we know with aging a lot do happen to the face including nose elongation, elongation of the space between the nose and the mouth, and the loss of muscle tone, fat, and bone mass contributes to the changes in facial appearance, resulting in a more drooped look of the lower half of the face.
The results obtained for the VFR comparisons of the Wadlow painting and the distinct Droeshout engraving (Fig. 7) are identical as the comparison with the Sanders painting with the exception that the mouth in the Droeshout engraving is even just a bit lower (Fig. 7 third panel and overlay) than in the Fig. 6 (third panel and overlay).
In a previous study it has also been shown using VFR comparisons that the Wadlow and the Sanders paintings did also fit like a glove and were certainly describing the same person (not shown).
BETAFACE ANALYSIS
The Fig. 8 describes the results obtained with an other tool the Betaface program (Betaface api) capable to give confidence values when pictures are compared. When the paintings are compare to the distinct Droeshout engraving (100%) (Fig.8 top), as expected the Flower painting (95.4%) has the closest value to the reference engraving. And for the Sanders (88.5%) and the Wadlow painting (90.7%) the confidence values are in the same range emphasizing the numerous similarities observed between them as well as their more comparable ages. In fact when the Sanders painting is the reference to compare to (100%) the Wadlow confidence value becomes 95% (Fig. 8 bottom).
Fig. 8, Betaface analysis of WS representations with their confidence values when the reference (100%) is the Droushout engraving (top) or the Sanders painting (bottom).
CONCLUSIONS
From his prime time (from roughly 1595 to 1605) to his retirement (around 1610), the Wadlow (1595), the Sanders (1603) and the Flower (1609) paintings do appear as the most accurate and authentic representations of The Bard at those corresponding periods.
The finding of that distinct picture of the Droeshout engraving makes possible to see more clearly the links between the few WS genuine representations that manage to reach us. At least for those who want to see….
Jean-Pierre Doucet 03 2025
The author is a retired scientist living in Quebec, Canada. The author is also very grateful to Mark Vinet for his so nice Timeline episode REAL or FAKE ??? Canada’s Shakespeare painting 1603 John Sanders portrait of William Shakespeare https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdk2fbBwGZs from which the best Sanders painting pictures were taken and is also thankful to the Betaface members for the use of their program.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
For the sake of brevity another important and genuine painting of WS has not been included in this study: The Chess Players attributed to Karel van Mander and showing Ben Jonson and WS playing chess. With his great desire of realism, Van Mander has rendered his portrait of WS in a remarkably lifelike manner. For the author this is that painting also rejected by the so-called experts that shed light on the mystery of WS physiognomy.
MAIN REFERENCES
The Complete work of William Shakespeare Reprinted from the First Folio (1906) Edited by Charlotte Porter and H. A. Clark, Vol. 1, T. Fisher Unwin, 123 pages. (from which the distinct Droeshout engraving was taken).
Hammerschmidt-Hummel H. (2006) The True Face of William Shakespeare, The poet's death mask and likenesses from three periods of his life, Chaucer Press, 2008 pages.
Doucet J.-P., THE KEY LEARNINGS FROM THE FINEST DROESHOUT’S ENGRAVING OF SHAKESPEARE
https://free.relayto.com/jeanpierre-doucet/the-key-learnings-from-the-finestdroeshout-s-engraving-of-shakespeare-42s5fmb0qx9ms/JuKWgoyT1
Doucet J,-P., THE SANDERS PAINTING IS DEEMED TO BE AN AUTHENTIC PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE
https://free.relayto.com/jeanpierre-doucet/the-sanders-painting-and-itsauthenticity-as-a-portrait-of-shakespeare-u5a1mfrhq4c7i/EHKHsvjp1
Doucet J.-P., THE WADLOW PAINTING IS A GENUINE PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE FOLLOWING COMPARISONS WITH THE SANDERS PAINTING THEHILLIARD MINIATURE THE DROESHOUT ENGRAVING FROM THE FIRST FOLIO AND THE STRATFORD BUST
https://free.relayto.com/jeanpierre-doucet/the-authenticity-of-the-wadlow-paintingof-shakespeare-18o1xhmxeqx0a/91sdlGik1
Doucet J.-P., THE MISSING LINK BETWEEN THE STRATFORD BUST AND SOME GENUINE PAINTIINGS OF SHAKESPEARE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsx9aneJYBs
Doucet J.P., THE SHAKESPEARE IN VAN MANDER’S PAINTING "THE CHESS PLAYERS" IS TRULY THE SAME AS IN THE SANDERS’ PAINTING OF SHAKESPEARE,
https://free.relayto.com/jeanpierre-doucet/the-shakespeare-in-van-mander-spainting-the-chess-players-is-the-same-as-in-the-sanders-paintingqrx3il9e2a6d6/WS2CXFih1
