The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0484  Monday, 22 May 2006

From: 		Al Magary <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: 		Friday, 19 May 2006 23:36:50 -0700
Subject: 	Chandos vs. Sanders: Canadians think they know the winner 
of the portrait contest

Controversy continues to rage over Cdn-owned Shakespeare portrait

Matthew Chung
Canadian Press, Friday, May 19, 2006
http://www.canada.com/topics/entertainment/story.html?id=839c2a69-2a48-418e-8cf0-a37f7bfe8865&k=8462

TORONTO (CP) - A Canadian-owned portrait of William Shakespeare is at the 
heart of a transatlantic debate over who can lay claim to the only 
authentic sketch of the Bard.

The so-called Sanders Portrait, which will be the centrepiece of a 
southwestern Ontario Shakespeare festival to be held next year, is going 
head-to-head until the end of the month with five other "contender" 
portraits in London's National Portrait Gallery.

Four of those portraits have been discounted as fakes.

But the gallery is standing behind the so-called Chandos portrait, the 
first painting presented to the facility in 1856.

The Sanders Portrait, believed to have been sketched in 1603 by a friend 
of a then 39-year-old Shakespeare, is the property of Ottawa resident 
Lloyd Sullivan, 73, who says his heritage can be traced back to the 
portrait-painter John Sanders.

The retired engineer has put his portrait through tree-ring dating of the 
wood it was sketched on, radiographic testing of the canvas and 
radiocarbon testing of the paper label on the back of the painting. He 
also tracked his genealogy back to 1607, which he says makes it almost 
certain that his painting is authentic.

All that's left is to trace his heritage into the 1500s and to date the 
ink of the painting. But Sullivan was told to wait for the technology to 
improve so a smaller sample of the painting could be used.

"If the ink dates back to that time, it proves that my ancestor knew when 
Shakespeare was born, knew when he died," Sullivan said.

The national gallery's website, in promoting its "Searching for 
Shakespeare" event, lumps the Sanders portrait in with four other 
portraits which it says are "purporting to represent Shakespeare."

Of the Chandos, it says, "the identity of this picture is still considered 
unproven and today we have no certain lifetime portrait of England's most 
famous poet and playwright."

Daniel Fischlin, a University of Guelph professor and the leader of an 
ongoing study on all adaptations of Shakespeare's works, said the 
"business of Shakespeare" plays a large role in this battle of the Bards.

"The licensing fees around who owns the authentic image is critical," he 
said. "There's tremendous national self-interest as well.

"Who owns the most authentic portrait? It's got to be England, you know?"

Details of the "Shakespeare - Made in Canada" festival - to be held in 
Guelph, Ont., in January 2007 - will be released Wednesday.

_______________________________________________________________
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>

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