Focus on this artwork and discuss the Allen and Barrell's theories.
In 1932, Percy Allen published The Life Story of Edward de Vere as "William Shakespeare". Allen was a supporter of J. Thomas Looney's theory that the works of Shakespeare were written by de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. He argued that the features of the man in the Ashbourne portrait corresponded to those of de Vere and that the costume suggested a date earlier than 1611. He believed that the portrait dated from 1597, but had later been retouched as part of "an elaborate plot".In 1940, Charles Wisner Barrell, a former director of Motion Pictures for the Western Electric Company, an American follower of Looney's and Allen's views, examined the portrait using X-ray and infra-red photography, and proved what Allen had suspected, namely that the painting had indeed been tampered with. He supported Allen's conclusion that it was a retouched portrait of Edward de Vere. On the basis of what was taken to be the artist's monogram, C.K., beneath a coat of arms, he concluded that the portrait was the work of Cornelius Ketel, who had been active in England and had reportedly done one of Oxford's portraits. He also suggested that the coat of arms belonged to Oxford's wife, Elizabeth Trentham. Ketel had in fact been commissioned in 1577 to paint a series of 19 portraits for the Cathay Company, in which Oxford had invested and lost a large sum of money.Barrell's identification received wide exposure, and caused a sensation.  Barrell believed he had proven that there was literally a cover-up, a conspiracy to conceal the identity of the Edward de Vere he believed to be the real author of Shakespeare's works.In late 1948/early 1949 a further series of X rays was made at the National Gallery of Art by Stephen S. Pichetto. These failed to reveal a "C. K." beneath the coat of arms. It is conjectured that if they were there, they probably stood for "Clement Kingston", the original owner who profited from the "discovery" of a new portrait ostensibly depicting Shakespeare. In 1948 Barrell sued Giles E. Dawson, the curator of Books and Manuscripts for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C for suggesting in a letter that Barrell had doctored his x-ray pictures. Though Barrell had promised to supply the Folger library with copies of the photographs he had commissioned, he never did so, and their present whereabouts are unknown. Folger director Joseph Quincy Adams, according to Dawson, also believed Barrell had tampered with his evidence. The suit was dismissed in 1950.
National Gallery of Art Western Electric Company Motion Pictures Cornelius Ketel J. Thomas Looney Cathay Company Western Electric Joseph Quincy Adams infra-red photography Charles Wisner Barrell Elizabeth Trentham Folger Shakespeare Library William Shakespeare Percy Allen X-ray