The indefatigable and irrepressible Shakespeare scholar, Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, has published a new book in which she painstakingly proves the authenticity of one of the most famous portraits of the Bard. Based at the University of Mainz in Germany, Dr. H-H has blazed a trail in groundbreaking Shakespearean scholarship that has proved not only the authenticity of some of the best known paintings of Shakespeare but also the overwhelming evidence for the Bard’s Catholicism. With regard to the latter, this can be seen in her own books on the subject but also in the contribution that she’s made to the Ignatius Critical Editions: www.ignatiuscriticaleditions.com. 

Here is the press release announcing Dr. H-H’s new book:

PRESS INVITATION 

Official Presentation of the Book And the Flower Portrait of William Shakespeare is Genuine After All at the University of Mainz 

The latest book by the Mainz Shakespeare scholar Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel, entitled 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 

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 [see image below]. 

You are cordially invited to attend this event. 

Contact and information 

Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt-Hummel 

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz 

Tel. +49 (0)611 521989 

Mobile: +49 (0)170 9668036 

E-mail: h.hammerschmidt-hummel@t-online.de 

http://www.hammerschmidt-hummel.de 

— 

Claudia Graf 

Koordination des Bibliothekssystems, 

Öffentlichkeitsarbeit 

Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek 

Schloss                          

64283 Darmstadt 

Tel.:  06151/16-5841 

Fax:  06151/16-5897 

www.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de