Might have been born on the 23rd of April 1564, at least we know he was baptised on the 26th.
Many feel the inclination to put his birthday on the 23rd because he also died on the 23rd of April… 1616. The symmetry is too good for many historians, and for the fact that the 23rd of April is also St George's Day, the closest thing we have to a day dedicated to England.
There are three original likenesses of Shakespeare:
The first was given to the National Portrait Gallery as their founding piece.
This piece shows a modestly wealthy man, we can infer this from his black garb as black was the most expensive of dyes. He also wears an ear-ring which was just about as racy in Elizabethan times as it is now.
The second is an the Droeshout engraving which appears on the cover of the first folio.
This image was most definitely made posthumously.
The final third image is the wall mounted bust in Stratford-Upon Avon. This bust was incorrectly white washed on the orders of a miss-guided academic. It has since been repainted, but to what level of accuracy we can never know.
It is quite terrifying.
From this imagery we may assume that Shakespeare was a male caucasian man with facial hair and a receding hairline.
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