By immersing himself in the Elizabethans' lore of the heroical Device or emblematic picture-and-motto and their related skill in Heraldry, and by ranging through mythology and writings of the time, Dr Hotson has met with a rich reward. Evidence painted into the Unknown Man Clasping a Hand reveals the subject as the young William Shakespeare - thus giving us at last a living portrait of the poet. It also provides the master-key which unlocks the thought at the heart of the Sonnets...