Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, is really the Earl of Oxford, forced by the Queen to use a pseudonym. Barrell also originated an argument that the phrase "Swan of Avon" in Ben Jonson's 1623 poem praising Shakespeare could refer to Oxford, as he owned Bilton Hall, a house near the Avon. Irvin Matus later demonstrated that Oxford had sold the house 42 years earlier. Ashbourne portrait He is best known for his studies of The Ashbourne portrait, which had been believed to depict Shakespeare. He examined the portrait using X-ray and infra-red photography in hopes of finding hidden clues to its origin, publishing his results in Scientific American in 1940. He stated that he had found evidence that it was a portrait of Oxford and that the initials C.K. were visible beneath the surface. He took the view that these were the initials of Cornelius Ketel, an artist known to have painted a portrait of the Earl of Oxford. Later studies contradicted Barrell's evidence, identifying the portrait's sitter as Hugh Hamersley. Barrell also claimed that the Janssen portrait depicted the earl. More recent studies identify it as a portrayal of Thomas Overbury. References External links The writings of Charles Wisner Barrell From The Shakespeare Fellowship News-Letter (American) 1940 - 1943 and The Shakespeare Fellowship Quarterly (American) 1944 - 1948. Notice of Charles Wisner Barrell's death (pg. 44) Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship 1885 births 1974 deaths American people of Swiss descent Shakespeare authorship theorists