Bard? More like babe.
Toby Melville / Reuters
The portrait is in botanist John Gerard's The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes, published in 1598. Botanist and historian Mark Griffiths discovered the purported portrait of Shakespeare on the title page of an original copy of the book.
As noted by Time, the "only images of Shakespeare were found in the First Folio of his works and his monument at Holy Trinity Church, Stratford." However, these portraits were posthumous.
As reported in the BBC News, Griffiths claimed "he had decoded decorative devices around the figures - such as heraldic motifs and emblematic flowers - to reveal their 'true identities.'" He believes that aside from William Shakespeare, the figures include the author Gerard, Rembert Dodoens, a fellow botanist, and Lord Burghley, Queen Elizabeth's Lord Treasurer.
Toby Melville / Reuters
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