The remains of the first Shakespearian Globe Theatre have been unearthed by archaeologists in Shoreditch, East London.
The theatre was built in 1576 and was where Romeo and Juliet was debuted.
The remains were discovered underneath a less-than-romantic modern lock-up garage, although the stage is believed to be somewhere underneath a housing development.
In the 1990s, an exact replica of the Globe Theatre was built on the South Bank of the Thames, and there are plans to build a new theatre over these remains by 2012, with the remains preserved under a glass floor for visitors to see.
Meanwhile, 400-year-old painting thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare from his lifetime has been unveiled.
The picture, painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, has been owned by the Cobbe family since the early 18th century.
William Shakespeare, the greatest-ever writer in the English language, was born on St George's Day (23rd April, England's national day) in 1564 and died on St George's Day 1616.
Remains of Shakespeare's first Globe Theatre unearthed in East London
By Graham Smith
10th March 2009
Daily Mail
The remains of William Shakespeare's first theatre have been found in East London.
Archaelogists from the Museum Of London unearthed what they believe to be part of the original curved wall of the first Globe Theatre in Shoreditch.
The team made their discovery a metre and a half below street level last summer.
Archaeologist Heather Knight stands on the site in East London where the remains of the first Globe Theatre have been found. The curved line of bricks she is looking at is thought to be the inner wall next to where the audience would have stood
Enlarge
The Tudor structure was first built in 1576 before it was dismantled, 25 years later, and rebuilt piece by piece on the South Bank
Since then they have uncovered the Tudor structure's gravel surface, the area where the audience would have stood that sloped down towards the stage.
They have also found a fragment of pottery of a man with beard that resembles Shakespeare.
But the stage itself is now thought to be buried under a housing development.
The theatre was built (what was then) outside the city in 1576, in what were then known as the 'suburbs of sin', the team's leader Taryn Nixon told the BBC.
Enlarge
There are plans to build a new theatre on the Shoreditch site with an opening date of 2012
Enlarge
How it looked: A drawing of the Globe Theatre. It was built with materials dismantled from the East London theatre built by James Burbage
'The Lord Mayor actually passed a decree that there shouldn't be any theatrical performances in the city,' she said.
'So just on the edge of the city is actually, classically, where you find all the slightly wilder, slightly more fun activities going on.'
A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre opened on the banks of the River Thames in 1997. Just as in Elizabethan times, the audience stands up to watch the plays
Twenty-five years after its construction, the theatre was dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt on London's South Bank.
In the 1990s the Globe Theatre was reconstructed at this location and has hosted Shakespearean productions ever since.
There are now plans to build a new theatre on the Shoreditch site of the first playhouse with an opening date of 2012.
Meanwhile, a 400-year-old painting thought to be the only surviving portrait of Shakespeare from his lifetime was today unveiled.
The picture, painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, has been owned by the Cobbe family since the early 18th century.
But for three centuries they were unsure if the subject was Britain’s greatest writer. At one point it was thought to be Sir Walter Raleigh, although experts now believe it was indeed the Bard.
The disused warehouse in East London where the remains of the theatre were found. It was built by James Burbage
Elsewhere on Monday, a newly identified portrait of the Bard was unveiled.
The 400-year-old painting is thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare painted during his lifetime.
It was painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, at the age of 46.
There has long been controversy over his portraits with the accuracy of many being called into question.
Enlarge
Fragments of pottery and tobacco pipes, above, found at the site and, below, the newly identified portrait of the Bard which was unveiled yesterday. It is believed to have been painted in 1610, six years before his death
*********************************************
Is this the true face of the Bard we see before us? Shakespeare painting is 'only surviving portrait painted from life'
By Matt Sandy
09th March 2009
Daily Mail
A 400-year-old painting thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare from his lifetime has been unveiled today.
The picture, painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, has been owned by the Cobbe family since the early 18th century.
But for three centuries they were unsure if the subject was Britain’s greatest writer. At one point it was thought to be Sir Walter Raleigh.
This portrait of Shakespeare is thought to have been painted when the writer was 46 - just six years before his death in 1616
Although debate is still raging, the world's top expert on the bard believes it is him.
Stanley Wells, emeritus professor of Shakespeare studies at Birmingham University, said he thought it was painted when the writer was 46.
It is thought to have first belonged to Shakespeare's patron, the third Earl of Southampton. A cousin of the Cobbe family married the great granddaughter of the Earl.
It was initially kept at a property in Hampshire but more recently in Hatchlands, the Cobbe family house in Surrey, which is run by the National Trust.
Alec Cobbe, an art restorer, will unveil what he regards as ‘very strong evidence’ that the painting is of Shakespeare.
Enlarge
Four portraits of the Bard. Clockwise from top left, the Sanders portrait, thought to have been done in 1603 by John Sanders; the Janssen painting made in 1610; the Chandos portrait so named because it was once in the possession of the Duke of Chandos; and, finally, from the late 1660s this one by the Dutch-born artist Gerard Soest
His curiosity was first aroused when he visited a 2006 exhibition of likely pictures of the playwright at the National Portrait Gallery.
He was drawn by one painting, by Cornelis Janssen, a Flemish painter who worked in England in the early 17th century, which he thought was strikingly similar to the picture at Hatchlands.
He took his picture to the National Portrait Gallery for comparison and has since tested the painting using scientific imaging to check if it is an original or has been altered.
Another painting of the Bard, known as the Flower portrait, was recently proved to be a fake by National Portrait Gallery experts who found it was not painted in his lifetime.
Fake: The Flower portrait of William Shakespeare, Flower portrait, named after one of its owners, Sir Desmond Flower, was not painted in his lifetime as previously thought
Two posthumous images are already generally accepted as authentic
representations of what Shakespeare may have looked like - an engraving by Martin Droeshout published in the First Folio of 1623 and a portrait bust in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.
dailymail.co.uk
The theatre was built in 1576 and was where Romeo and Juliet was debuted.
The remains were discovered underneath a less-than-romantic modern lock-up garage, although the stage is believed to be somewhere underneath a housing development.
In the 1990s, an exact replica of the Globe Theatre was built on the South Bank of the Thames, and there are plans to build a new theatre over these remains by 2012, with the remains preserved under a glass floor for visitors to see.
Meanwhile, 400-year-old painting thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare from his lifetime has been unveiled.
The picture, painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, has been owned by the Cobbe family since the early 18th century.
William Shakespeare, the greatest-ever writer in the English language, was born on St George's Day (23rd April, England's national day) in 1564 and died on St George's Day 1616.
Remains of Shakespeare's first Globe Theatre unearthed in East London
By Graham Smith
10th March 2009
Daily Mail
The remains of William Shakespeare's first theatre have been found in East London.
Archaelogists from the Museum Of London unearthed what they believe to be part of the original curved wall of the first Globe Theatre in Shoreditch.
The team made their discovery a metre and a half below street level last summer.
Enlarge
The Tudor structure was first built in 1576 before it was dismantled, 25 years later, and rebuilt piece by piece on the South Bank
Since then they have uncovered the Tudor structure's gravel surface, the area where the audience would have stood that sloped down towards the stage.
They have also found a fragment of pottery of a man with beard that resembles Shakespeare.
But the stage itself is now thought to be buried under a housing development.
The theatre was built (what was then) outside the city in 1576, in what were then known as the 'suburbs of sin', the team's leader Taryn Nixon told the BBC.
Enlarge
There are plans to build a new theatre on the Shoreditch site with an opening date of 2012Enlarge
How it looked: A drawing of the Globe Theatre. It was built with materials dismantled from the East London theatre built by James Burbage
'The Lord Mayor actually passed a decree that there shouldn't be any theatrical performances in the city,' she said.
'So just on the edge of the city is actually, classically, where you find all the slightly wilder, slightly more fun activities going on.'
A replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre opened on the banks of the River Thames in 1997. Just as in Elizabethan times, the audience stands up to watch the plays
Twenty-five years after its construction, the theatre was dismantled piece by piece and rebuilt on London's South Bank.
In the 1990s the Globe Theatre was reconstructed at this location and has hosted Shakespearean productions ever since.
There are now plans to build a new theatre on the Shoreditch site of the first playhouse with an opening date of 2012.
Meanwhile, a 400-year-old painting thought to be the only surviving portrait of Shakespeare from his lifetime was today unveiled.
The picture, painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, has been owned by the Cobbe family since the early 18th century.
But for three centuries they were unsure if the subject was Britain’s greatest writer. At one point it was thought to be Sir Walter Raleigh, although experts now believe it was indeed the Bard.
The disused warehouse in East London where the remains of the theatre were found. It was built by James Burbage
Elsewhere on Monday, a newly identified portrait of the Bard was unveiled.
The 400-year-old painting is thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare painted during his lifetime.
It was painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, at the age of 46.
There has long been controversy over his portraits with the accuracy of many being called into question.
Enlarge
Fragments of pottery and tobacco pipes, above, found at the site and, below, the newly identified portrait of the Bard which was unveiled yesterday. It is believed to have been painted in 1610, six years before his death
*********************************************
Is this the true face of the Bard we see before us? Shakespeare painting is 'only surviving portrait painted from life'
By Matt Sandy
09th March 2009
Daily Mail
A 400-year-old painting thought to be the only surviving portrait of William Shakespeare from his lifetime has been unveiled today.
The picture, painted in 1610, six years before the playwright's death, has been owned by the Cobbe family since the early 18th century.
But for three centuries they were unsure if the subject was Britain’s greatest writer. At one point it was thought to be Sir Walter Raleigh.
This portrait of Shakespeare is thought to have been painted when the writer was 46 - just six years before his death in 1616
Although debate is still raging, the world's top expert on the bard believes it is him.
Stanley Wells, emeritus professor of Shakespeare studies at Birmingham University, said he thought it was painted when the writer was 46.
It is thought to have first belonged to Shakespeare's patron, the third Earl of Southampton. A cousin of the Cobbe family married the great granddaughter of the Earl.
It was initially kept at a property in Hampshire but more recently in Hatchlands, the Cobbe family house in Surrey, which is run by the National Trust.
Alec Cobbe, an art restorer, will unveil what he regards as ‘very strong evidence’ that the painting is of Shakespeare.
Enlarge
Four portraits of the Bard. Clockwise from top left, the Sanders portrait, thought to have been done in 1603 by John Sanders; the Janssen painting made in 1610; the Chandos portrait so named because it was once in the possession of the Duke of Chandos; and, finally, from the late 1660s this one by the Dutch-born artist Gerard Soest
His curiosity was first aroused when he visited a 2006 exhibition of likely pictures of the playwright at the National Portrait Gallery.
He was drawn by one painting, by Cornelis Janssen, a Flemish painter who worked in England in the early 17th century, which he thought was strikingly similar to the picture at Hatchlands.
He took his picture to the National Portrait Gallery for comparison and has since tested the painting using scientific imaging to check if it is an original or has been altered.
Another painting of the Bard, known as the Flower portrait, was recently proved to be a fake by National Portrait Gallery experts who found it was not painted in his lifetime.
Fake: The Flower portrait of William Shakespeare, Flower portrait, named after one of its owners, Sir Desmond Flower, was not painted in his lifetime as previously thought
Two posthumous images are already generally accepted as authentic
representations of what Shakespeare may have looked like - an engraving by Martin Droeshout published in the First Folio of 1623 and a portrait bust in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.
dailymail.co.uk
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