Is this what Jane Austen really looked like? Newly discovered sketch could be lost portrait of 19th century novelist
By GARETH FINIGHAN
Last updated at 11:49 AM on 5th December 2011

The author of a forthcoming biography on Jane Austen believes she has unearthed a previously undiscovered portrait of the novelist.

Dr Paula Byrne was midway through her new book when her husband surprised her with a portrait of a female writer bought at auction, according to the Christmas Radio Times.

She spotted the long, straight ‘Austen nose’ seen in images of the writer’s father and brothers, and enlisted the help of a team of experts and the BBC to test her as yet unproven thesis that the woman is the famous author, who died in 1817 aged 41.

Her find is the subject of a new BBC2 documentary, Jane Austen: The Unseen Portrait? to be broadcast on Boxing Day.

For the complete article, visit The Daily Mail at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070026/Jane-Austen-Newly-discovered-sketch-lost-portrait-19th-century-novelist.html.