The Bard
The Bard, Rewritten
This print began with the 1623 Droeshout engraving of William Shakespeare — a now-iconic image from the first folio of his collected plays. You’ve seen it before: solemn, symmetrical, and just a little too serious.
At Cirro, we couldn’t resist. We gave the Bard a grin.
The Bard with a Smile overlays that famous Elizabethan collar with a bold pop-art gesture — a bright yellow curve, stretched into a smile. It’s playful, a bit cheeky, and unmistakably postmodern.
It’s also human-made. No AI here — just a well-placed shape, some digital layering, and a nod to the fact that Shakespeare probably laughed too.
Original engraving by Martin Droeshout, 1623 — public domain.
