The Flower Portrait Might Be Genuine After All

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[The following comes from a press release that was sent to me directly by Professor Dr. Hildegaard Hammerschmidt-Hummel herself.]

In her book The True Face of William Shakespeare. The Poet’s Death Mask and Likenesses from Three Periods of His Life (2006) Prof. Hammerschmidt- Hummel was able to prove the authenticity of the Chandos and Flower portraits, the Davenant bust and the Darmstadt Shakespeare death mask – in close collaboration with forensics experts from the BKA, the equivalent of the CID, several medics, physicists, 3D and other specialists.

When Dr Tarnya Cooper, a curator at the National Portrait Gallery in London, cast doubt on the authenticity of the Flower portrait, Hammerschmidt- Hummel undertook a renewed comprehensive investigation of this portrait, once again involving an array of international experts. A joint inspection of the painting in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s depository in Stratford- upon-Avon, and the analysis of the BBC film ”The Flower Portrait”, demonstrate strong powers of observation and a thorough multidisciplinary approach, which lead to new – completely unexpected – results and make for a suspenseful read.

These new results will be introduced and explained by Hammerschmidt- Hummel at the book presentation on 28 September 2010. The author will also briefly comment on the 3D recreation of the Darmstadt Shakespeare death mask in the film “Death Masks” broadcast in the UK on 13 September 2010 on HISTORY.

And the Flower Portrait of William Shakespeare is Genuine After All. Latest Investigations Again Prove its Authenticity. Translated from the German by Professor Alan Bance (Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 2010)

will be presented to the public at the University of Mainz on

28 September 2010, 6:00 pm, on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University, Building: ‘Philosophicum’, Room P 13, Jakob-Welder-Weg 18.

The speakers are:

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Mechthild Dreyer, Vice President

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Oldenstein, former Vice President

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Ulrich Breuer, Dean of FB 05 – Philosophy and Philology

Prof. Dr. Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel

Dr. Annette Holzapfel-Pschorn