In 1985, the only known wall-painting from Shakespeare's era to illustrate one of his stories was discovered beneath some paneling in St. Albans, Bacon's home town. The subject is Venus and Adonis - specifically, Adonis being gored and killed by a boar. The boar was also the Bacon family crest.

Stratfordians see coincidence; Baconians see tantalizing connections.

Part of the painting is on display in a building still owned by the White Hart Inn in Holywell Hill (An inn has been there since Bacon's day). When I visited in May 2006, this part of the building was occupied by "Pots of Art"-a paint-your-own pottery studio.