A British historian announced Tuesday he had discovered the only portrait of William Shakespeare made while the famous playwright was alive, a claim met with scepticism by some. The portrait showing a young and handsome figure was found by botanist and historian Mark Griffiths in a 1,484 page book on plants, ‘The Herball’, from the 16th century. ‘This is the first time that we have a portrait of him that is identifiable as him, that is done in his lifetime,’ said Mark Hedges, editor of Country Life magazine where an article outlining the discovery was published on Wednesday. ‘The only two other authentic portraits of Shakespeare were both done posthumously. So this is an enormous world breakthrough to find out what the most famous writer in the English language looked like.’ The print, which Griffiths says shows Shakespeare aged 33, portrays four people previously thought to be imaginary figures. Griffiths argues the figures

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