Portrait of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (1550-1604), formerly owned by the Duke of St. Albans, currently in the possession of the Minos Miller Trust Fund.

NOTE: The identification and attribution of this portrait is suspect on the grounds of fashion and artistic style, according to Sir Roy Strong. Burris, Barbara, "The Ashbourne Portrait: Part II", Shakespeare Matters Winter 2002, pp. 20-22, n. 31: "The dating of the Ashbourne painting by costume which sets the Ashbourne in its proper time frame of circa 1579-80 raises the issue of the incongruity of the costume of the St. Alban’s portrait with the inscription denoting that it is a portrait of Edward de Vere. The style of the doublet and the high collar with its tiny lace edged in black that is a precursor of the ruff, in the St. Alban’s portrait belongs to the period of the late 1550s or 1560s. Sir Roy Strong has dated it circa 1565. <31> (Private correspondence with Derran Charlton, Oxfordian researcher, South Yorkshire, England, 2000. Concerning Strong’s recommendation to Peer not to use the St. Alban’s as a portrait of Edward de Vere in the television documentary The Shakespeare Conspiracy.)

"The fact that the St. Alban’s has the name Edward de Vere blazoned across it does not counter the primary costume evidence that Sir Roy Strong used to date this painting circa 1565. The costume proves that the inscription is wrong in the St. Alban’s portrait."