A WINDOW cleaner is battling to prove he has the only portrait of William Shakespeare made in his lifetime — which could be worth £200million.
But Steven Wadlow, 58, said he struggles to be heard in the academic world because he is a working-class tradesman.
He has been trying to validate the painting since his dad phoned him in 2012 while watching a documentary on the playwright to say: “He looks like our bloke above the telly.”
Experts have since determined it is from the right period, is not a copy, and looks like the one authenticated portrait — but debate rages over whether it is Shakespeare.
One dealer told Steven if he could prove his case it would be worth up to £200million.
But he is just as keen on widening debate than making a fortune.
He said: “Because I’m a working-class tradesperson, the people who have been studying this for years, they don’t want to find this out from a no-one.”
His antiques dealer dad, Peter, now 92, bought it from the Great Tew estate in Oxfordshire in the 1960s.
It hung unnoticed in the family living room but once Peter suggested it might be Shakespeare, Steven, from Aylesbury, Bucks, has spent thousands of pounds investigating the clues.
It has been X-rayed, analysed by art history experts and scientifically dated to 1595 — when the Bard was 31.
Married dad-of-two Steven, who keeps the picture in safe storage, accepts he may never know the truth but says: “Let’s get it out and talk about it.”
The majority of Shakespeare portraits in existence are always up for debate over whether they are genuine or not, and Steven wants this to be added to the discussion.
The Sun art critic
SHAKESPEARE was this country’s greatest wordsmith — and if this painting is to be (or not to be) believed, he was also quite the good-looking Romeo.
One always imagines the Bard as bearded and balding.
But this artwork is much more befitting of the writer of so much romantic drama and tragedy.
Love was clearly not a labour lost on this handsome young fellow.
And with a ’tache and dangly earring, he’s four centuries ahead of today’s trendsetters.
When you look such a player, all the world’s a stage.
