Rumoured painting of Shakespeare from 1608 could fetch £10million at auction

There have long been only two portraits of William Shakespeare recognised as valid portrayals – both created after his death.

But today a picture claimed by some to be the only one painted during his lifetime will be put up for sale, with the owner hoping it could sell for more than £10million.

Dated 1608, the painting hung in Swinton House in Masham, North Yorkshire, until it was sold at an auction by Christie's in 1975.

The auction catalogue shows that it was described as 'portrait of a gentleman, aged 44, said to be Shakespeare' by Dutch artist Paul van Somer.

Yesterday art expert Duncan Phillips said its owner enlisted him to investigate it after discovering it bore the monogram of Robert Peake, an English painter who held the post of Serjeant Painter to King James I.

Mr Phillips said it sold for only 'about £400' at the 1975 auction according to a note in a copy of the catalogue. But he is now '95 per cent sure' it could be the 'forgotten face of Shakespeare waiting for centuries to be rediscovered'.

This painting described as a 'portrait of a gentleman, aged 44, said to be Shakespeare' by Dutch artist Paul van Somer, could sell for up to £10million

Only two paintings of Shakespeare are recognised as valid. One is the engraving by Martin Droeshout in the First Folio of his plays (right), published in 1623. The other is the effigy at his funeral monument (left) in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.

He said: 'The age of the sitter is recorded on the portrait as 44. William Shakespeare was 44 in 1608.'

Mr Phillips said Peake was commissioned by the Office of the Revels, the Crown department that oversaw the presentation of plays. He also worked in the premises in Clerkenwell, London, where some of Shakespeare's plays were rehearsed.

Peake was regularly commissioned to paint the portraits of high-ranking members of Jacobean society.

But leading Shakespeare expert Michael Dobson yesterday described it as 'wishful thinking' – and said it does not resemble the recognised portraits.

He said: 'It is not labelled as a portrait of Shakespeare, who would surely have insisted on having his coat of arms in one corner of the canvas.

'It does not resemble either of the portraits of Shakespeare vouched for by his family and friends, the Stratford funerary monument and the print on the title page of the First Folio.'

Only two paintings of Shakespeare are recognised as valid. One is the engraving by Martin Droeshout in the First Folio of his plays, published in 1623.

The other is the effigy at his funeral monument in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon.