ABSTRACT
James’ story is loosely based on the life of Lord Byron, not of Shakespeare, but the same burning gaze is always directed toward what purports to be Shakespeare’s face. At a time when the discovery of a “new Shakespeare portrait” has intrigued both critics and historians and the general public, it is worth remembering those earlier
moments of literary lionization, and the way they have tended to turn on images and relics. Of course the use of portraits as evidence of character, personality, honor, and sympathy-not to mention Shakespeare’s vaunted “genius”—has a history as long as Shakespeare himself. What is it, though, that we seek in a face, whether it is the face of Shakespeare or another? What counts as evidence-and, most importantly, what might it be evidence of?
