Focus on this artwork and explain the Authorship and provenance.
It has been claimed that Shakespeare's friend Richard Burbage (1567–1619) painted the Chandos portrait,  but the first known reference to the painting is in a note written in 1719 by George Vertue, who states that it was painted by John Taylor, a respected member of the Painter-Stainers' company who may also have been the same John Taylor who acted with the Children of Paul's. Vertue refers to Taylor as an actor and painter and as Shakespeare's "intimate friend". Katherine Duncan-Jones argues that 'John Taylor' could have been a misreading of what had originally been "Jo: Taylor"; she suggests that this may refer to the actor Joseph Taylor, who was a protégé of the older Shakespeare.Vertue also states that before the Duke of Chandos acquired it, the portrait was owned by Shakespeare's possible godson, William Davenant (1606–1668), who, according to the gossip chronicler John Aubrey, claimed to be the playwright's illegitimate son. He also states that it was left to Davenant in Taylor's will and that it was bought by Thomas Betterton from Davenant and then sold to the lawyer Robert Keck, a collector of Shakespeare memorabilia.After Keck's death in 1719, it passed to his daughter, and was inherited by John Nichol, who married into the Keck family. Nichol's daughter Margaret married James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos. The painting passed through descent within the Chandos title until Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos sold it to the Earl of Ellesmere in 1848. Ellesmere donated it to the National Portrait Gallery.
Thomas Betterton National Portrait Gallery Earl of Ellesmere Joseph Taylor Children of Paul's left John Taylor Richard Burbage James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos John Aubrey William Davenant Painter-Stainers' company Richard Temple-Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos George Vertue Katherine Duncan-Jones 3rd Duke of Chandos