What's in a face? Portraits of Shakespeare

The Cobbe: The face that's caused all the fuss. The so-called 'Cobbe' portrait, named after the family of its Irish art-restorer owner, has been rediscovered. Scholars now suggest that it might be a long-lost original portrait of Shakespeare painted from life Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

The Dorchester: Closely related to the Cobbe portrait is the so-called 'Dorchester' – the chief difference being that this shows Shakespeare having succumbed to hair loss, perhaps done in imitation of the famous Droeshout image Photograph: Private Collection

The Droeshout: Martin Droeshout’s 1623 engraving of Shakespeare, printed in the first collected edition of his plays, is clumsily executed. It was done several years after his death, and Ben Jonson apparently didn’t think much of it , advising readers: ‘Look not on his picture but on his book’ Photograph: PA

The Chandos: Painted in the 17th century but of dubious provenance, the Chandos portrait (c1610) shows the Bard as a bohemian and a bit of a bastard (that gold earring). His hair is far too dark, though Photograph: National Portrait Gallery/Bridgeman Art Library/Bridgeman Art Library

The Sanders: Rediscovered in Canada in 2001, this portrait has the correct auburn hair, and it’s hard not to fall for that smile. But a crucial section of the board identifying its sitter’s age has gone missing, and most experts are unpersuaded that this shy young man is Shakespeare Photograph: Art Gallery of Ontario/AP

The Hilliard: Although its links with Shakespeare are unavoidably tenuous, some romantics still cling to the hope that this gorgeous miniature by Elizabethan portraitist par excellence, Nicholas Hilliard, depicts the poet Photograph: Bridgeman Art Library

The 'Pork Butcher': Derided by many for its resemblance to a small-town burgher – or a garden gnome – Gheerart Janssen’s funeral bust in Stratford parish church was nonetheless sanctioned by his relatives, and, depressingly enough, is still our best guess at what he really looked like Photograph: Shakespeare Birthplace Trust