BUT IS IT JANE?

New evidence may have revealed the true face of one of Britain's most beloved authors. Using digital photographic tools analysis has revealed writing on a long-disputed oil painting that its owners claim shows Jane Austen as a teenage girl. No other professional likeness of the writer exists.

The discovered words appear to include not only the novelist's name, but also that of the suspected artist.

In the top-right corner of a reproduction of a photograph of the portrait taken before the painting was restored, the name Jane Austen is visible. Next to it is revealed in two places the name Ozias Humphry - an established portrait painter of the period. He was a member of the Royal Academy, and a friend of other better-known artists of the day, such as Gainsborough and Romney.

I'd seen an article about the painting of the teenage girl who might be Austen previously but before the new information came to light.  I believe most lovers of Austen's books would want her to be more attractive than than the unfinished portrait by her sister, Cassandra, of the prim, spinsterly-looking woman, although I don't know why it matters.  It's the set of the mouth and the arms folded firmly in front that put me off.

My expert consultant who sent me the link said:

It has been written about before, but new research makes it very probable that it is genuine (have you read the accompanying article?) and it has a history of descent in the family of one of Austen's brothers.

Yes, Mr Expert Consultant, I had read the article.  Reading Jane Austen's books for the first time as a teenager changed my life, and I've read her works over and over throughout the years.   I'd really like an alternative look to that of the watercolor by Cassandra Austen, so I hope, in the end, that the experts who are studying the painting conclude that the subject is, indeed, my Jane.  Not that it really matters...  Read the entire article.