On April 22, one day before his 441st birthday anniversary, experts discovered that one of the most recognizable portraits of William Shakespeare is a fake. This means that we no longer have a good idea of what Shakespeare looked like. “It's very possible that many pictures of Shakespeare might be unreliable because many of them are copies of this one,” said an expert from Britain's National Portrait Gallery.

　　The discovery comes after four months of testing using X-rays, ultraviolet light, microphotography and paint samples. The experts from the gallery say the image —commonly known as the “Flower portrait”— was actually painted in the 1800s, about two centuries after Shakespeare's death. The art experts who work at the gallery say they also used modern chemistry technology to check the paint on the picture. These checks found traces of paint dating from about 1814. Shakespeare died in 1616, and the date that appears on the portrait is 1609.

　　“We now think the portrait dates back to around 1818 to 1840. This was when there was a renewed interest in Shakespeare's plays,” Tarnya Cooper, the gallery's curator (馆长), told the Associated President.

　　The fake picture has often been used as a cover for collections of his plays. It is called the Flower portrait because one of its owners, Desmond Flower, gave it to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

　　“There have always been questions about the painting,” said David Howells, curator for the Royal Shakespeare Company. “Now we know the truth, we can put the image in its proper place in the history of Shakespearean portraiture.”

【浙江省乐清市第二中学2015届高三上学期10月月考英语试卷】相关文章：

★ 浙江省杭州求是高级中学2013-2014学年高二上学期期中考试英语试卷

★ 河北省唐山一中2015届高三上学期12月调研考试英语试卷word版含答案

★ 浙江省舟山中学2014-2015学年高一上学期期中考试英语试卷

★ 江苏省宿迁市沭阳银河学校2015届高三上学期12月月考试卷 英语 Word版含答案

★ 重庆市巴蜀中学2015届高三12月月考英语试卷

★ 黑龙江省大庆市铁人中学2015届高三12月月考英语试卷

★ 河北省保定市高阳中学2015届高三上学期第十三次周练英语试卷

★ 河南省濮阳县第一中学2015届高三上学期期中考试英语试卷

★ 山东省城阳第一高级中学2015届高三上学期期中模块检测英语试卷

★ 河南省洛阳市2015届高三上学期期中考试英语试卷