he asserts that it is; it is exactly in his thin fine style, and the manner of it very much resembles that of his picture of the Procession of Queen Elizabeth to Hunsdon House, the residence of Sir Christopher Hatton, in which the Queen, courtiers, and maids of honour have-the majority of them, at least-the same pinky dash of colour in the cheek, and the same whitish complexion, of this picture. The curious painting of this Procession was exhibited in the Manchester Fine Arts Collection, and a photograph taken by Messrs. Caldesi may still be had. This photograph should be carefully studied by the collectors of Shakspearian portraits, since it may be safely affirmed that, of the courtiers by whom Queen Elizabeth is surrounded, it would be very easy to pick out at least six whose foreheads, noses, pointed beards, and the contour of whose countenances, would certainly entitle their possessors to be mistaken for their world-famous contemporary.

Here, indeed, we shall find the fruitful source whence proceed so many supposititious originals with or without a history. The face of Shakspeare, gentle, dignified, cheerful, and open, presented much the same characteristics as those of a great many of his countrymen and contemporaries. Mr. Howitt, in discoursing about Warwickshire, produced, in one of his works, a portrait of a boy, who might have been mistaken for the author of Hamlet, when young; and instances have not been uncommon where an assumption of the dress, the beard, and moustache of the time, would gift an individual of to-day with a close external resemblance to the poet, however much lower his

mental qualities may actually be. His was no marked or peculiar face, to be recognised by a wart, like that of Cromwell, by its statuesque beauty, like Napoleon's, or its vivid sharpness, like those of Erasmus and Voltaire; nor had it the rocky, rough, weather-beaten look of Ben Jonson. Fondly as we may now regard it, it had little or nothing about it peculiarly distinctive, and hence it has been an easy task for persons to mistake the portraits of others for those of Shakspeare, and for people without delicate perception to grow obstinate in, and enamoured of, their error.

Amongst many pictures not claiming a distinct genealogy, but which yet have for many years been delivered to us as those of Shakspeare, the WARWICK PORTRAIT deserves a distinct notice.

It is more poetically treated, perhaps, than any other. It is very beautifully painted, and represents the Poet seated at his work, his mind occupied with his art, and in the act of poetic composition. It is original, and the accessories alone give it a high value-so high, indeed, that it is classed as one of the chief pictures in the collection of its noble owner; and few will visit Warwick Castle without a careful inspection of it. Dr. Waagen, whose opinions are entitled to much attention, regards it with favour; and indeed it is highly probable that, should any artist have desired to transmit the portrait of the greatest poet of his age to posterity, he would have chosen the pose which this picture possesses. When Dr. Waagen, in prosecution of his grateful task of describing the art

treasures which so richly adorn the houses of the English nobility, visited Warwick Castle, he was much struck with this picture; although it must be confessed that it differs very considerably in youth, complexion, and appearance from other portraits which he had also seen. He thus enthusiastically describes it :

"The portrait of Shakspeare, though without a genealogy, was exceedingly interesting to me; it seems more worthy of this great poet than any I have hitherto seen, and therefore deserving the attention of all those who have at their command the critical literature relative to the portraits of the poet, and the comparative examination of those extant. He is here represented younger than usual, and with more delicate features, but with the mustachios and pointed beard. The whole conception is very peculiar. Seated behind a table covered with a white cloth, in a red chair with a high back, he is on the point of writing; looking up as if reflecting; for, although his eye is directed towards the spectator, his mind is evidently fixed on his subject. The expression of the head is remarkably refined and spirited; he is dressed in black, with white lace ruff and ruffles. The local tone of the flesh is reddish, the execution careful. The whole work bespeaks a careful painter, and it seems to me to be decidedly an original portrait. The ground is black."*

It will be observed that Dr. Waagen has not hazarded any conjecture as to the painter of this excellent portrait,

* Treasures of Art in Great Britain. By Dr.Waagen. Vol. II. p. 216.

Letter 26.

and it would perhaps be difficult to assign it to any artist with a probability of a general acquiescence by connoisseurs. It also seems to us that the attitude is hardly that which a painter of the period would have chosen: there is a somewhat modern "fashion" about it which we object to.

It would have been gratifying to have found some mention of such a portrait as this in the catalogue of the fine collection of pictures belonging to Charles I., which is extant; but although that monarch was a student of Shakspeare, a folio (of 1632) of whose works he presented to a gentleman of his bed-chamber shortly before his death, we have consulted that catalogue in vain for such a record.

IX.

OF VARIOUS OTHER PORTRAITS OR ASSERTED PORTRAITS.

MR. LIONEL BOOTH, the publisher of the fac-simile of the important edition of the folio of 1623, has long been an ardent admirer of everything connected with art or literature which regards Shakspeare, and possesses a picture which once belonged to Cosway, and at the sale of that artist's pictures was purchased by his father. Perhaps a more pleasing representation of the poet could not be seen than this admirable little painting; but its interest lies beyond, far beyond its merit as a painting; it is a picture celebrated in its day: which Cosway, when its possessor, asserted to be an original from the pencil of Zoest, or, as some will persist in spelling it, Zoust.

How far this portrait was from being one painted from the living subject, a reference to Walpole or to the Dictionary of Painters will show us at a glance. Walpole in his Anecdotes describes "Gerald Zoest, called Zoust," as being a native of Westphalia, and as "arriving in