GERMANY: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DEATH MASK CLAIM скачать в хорошем качестве

GERMANY: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE DEATH MASK CLAIM

(16 May 1996) English/Nat A German professor claims a 17th century death mask that has been in her country for more than two centuries is that of William Shakespeare. And Hildegard Hammerschmidt Hummel says medical evidence seems to indicate that the world famous playwright died of a rare form of eye cancer. But her claims are being hotly disputed by scholars. New claims that this 17th Century death mask belonged to playwright William Shakespeare is causing a rift among the literati. With the help of German detectives and top medical specialists, English literature professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt Hummel says she has evidence that Shakespeare died of a rare form of eye cancer. Hammerschmidt Hummel of Mainz University reached her conclusions after studying five images of the playwright. These include the death mask, the Flower portrait, the Chandos painting, an engraving and a bust by the sculptor Janssen. Using forensic techniques she compared facial features of all five and found 17 similarities. But Shakespearean scholars are sceptical as they had assumed all images were fakes. SOUNDBITE: There is still scepticism in England, and I can't really understand why this is because I have all the facts and all the results and it's quite clear that the mask is authentic and the images are authentic. SUPER CAPTION: Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt Hummel, Mainz University A lump on the left eye lid might indicate Shakespeare died from a rare form of cancer - lymphoma of the tear gland. SOUNDBITE: I asked professor Wolfgang Lerche who is an ophthalmologist to study a certain symptom on the upper left eyelid - a symptom I'd noticed in Chandos and Flower. All of a sudden I noticed that there was a strange pathological symptom and Professor Lerche found out that this was a so-called Mikuliez's syndrome - and the Mikuliez's syndrome is a disease in the area of the glands and it might have been the cause of Shakespeare's death. SUPER CAPTION: Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt Hummel, Mainz University The professor says she has researched her subject well. SOUNDBITE: I had to start first of all solving the identity problem and secondly I had to prove that forgery can be excluded and thirdly I had to prove that the first owner of the mask really went to London and that he must have bought the mask there because it was in his collection for about 60 years. SUPER CAPTION: Professor Hildegard Hammerschmidt Hummel, Mainz University But in Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford upon Avon, there is scepticism. Professor Stanley Wells, director of the Shakespeare Institute, casts doubts on the claims. SOUNDBITE: I am very doubtful about the authenticity of this death mask. I think it's a real death mask. But I feel very dubious about whether it's Shakespeare's, and I have various reasons for that. The first and most basic reason is that we have no other death masks of non-royal persons for the whole of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th Centuries. It seems to me to be very suspicious that the only surviving death mask of the period should be that of William Shakespeare, the one we would most like I suppose. SUPER CAPTION: Prof Stanley Wells, Director of Shakespeare Institute He says the lump on the left eye doesn't necessarily mean that the person wearing the mask died of cancer. SOUNDBITE: SUPER CAPTION: Prof Stanley Wells, Shakespeare Institute Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...