Shakespeare and His Friends at the Mermaid Tavern (1850, oil on canvas) by John Faed. The painting depicts (from left in back) Joshua Sylvester, John Selden, Francis Beaumont, (seated at table from left) William Camden, Thomas Sackville, John Fletcher, Sir Francis Bacon, Ben Jonson, John Donne, Samuel Daniel, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Earl of Southampton, Sir Robert Cotton, and Thomas Dekker.
William Shakespeare's style of writing was borrowed from the conventions of the day and adapted to his needs.
