William Shakespeare's portrait said to be made during his lifetime up for sale 

A portrait of William Shakespeare said to be the only one made during his lifetime, is up for sale in London. The portrait is currently on display in London and is priced at £10m (11.9 m USD approx).

The owner of the portrait, who has wished to remain anonymous, is offering the piece for sale by a private treaty without putting it up for auction.The painting was made by King James I's court painter Robert Peake who signed the portrait and mentioned the date as 1608.

The artwork went on display on Wednesday at the Grosvenor House hotel in west London.

Prior to 1975, the picture hung in the library of a stately home in the north of England, once home to the Danby family. From 1975 onwards, it has reportedly been in private ownership.

Those who are behind the sale state that the painter and Shakespear's connection was 'extensive'. The artist was regularly commissioned to paint portraits of high-ranking members of the court and the Jacobean society.

He was also commissioned by the Office of the Revels, which oversaw the presentation of plays, and worked in the premises in Clerkenwell, London, where some of Shakespeare’s plays were rehearsed.

It is to be noted that for centuries only 2 paintings of Shakespeare- both posthumous- are widely known as the only accurate portraits of the bard. The engraving that appears on the title page of the First Folio, published in 1623, and the sculpture at his funeral monument in Stratford-upon-Avon. Shakespeare died in 1616, at the age of 52.