Experts doubt veracity of William Shakespeare's 400 yr old 'first ever portrait'

A 400-year-old pencil sketch of William Shakespeare has been introduced as the late legendary poet's first known image, however, experts have now raised question over its veracity.

The portrait discovered by Mark Griffiths, is believed to have been produced while the Bard was alive and in his prime, and depicts his "film star good looks", the Independent reported.

Griffiths, who also works as a historian, has claimed that he had found the image, which shows the writer wearing a laurel wreath on his head, carrying an ear of sweetcorn in one hand and flowers in the other, in a celebrated Elizabethan book 'The Herball.'

He spent five years testing his theory, unlocking the meaning behind ciphers, heraldic motifs, rebuses and emblematic flowers, calling it a simple algebra equation, and also claimed to have found playwright's new work, a small entertainment commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster Lord Burghley.

Country Life's editor Mark Hedges has also called it the "literary discovery of the century," and Edward Wilson, emeritus fellow of Worcester College, Oxford, also supported the claims, saying "It is sensational and we don't think anyone will disprove this."

But Shakespeare Professor Michael Dobson, director of the Shakespeare Institute, called it a "hallucination," saying that he was "deeply unconvinced" as there was no reason why Shakespeare would be in a botany textbook.

Lucy Monro, Shakespeare lecturer at King's College London has also back this, saying it was "unlikely" to be the Bard.