London: History is celebrity-oriented as unknown people don’t have the drawing power of well-known names. Lumbered with portraits of unknown figures from the 16th and 17th centuries, London’s National Portrait Gallery decided to use an innovative trick — It got Britain’s top writers to create fictional personas for the mystery figures.

Eight writers, Alexander McCall Smith, Joanna Trollope, John Banville, Julian Fellowes, Minette Walters, Sarah Singleton, Terry Pratchett and Tracy Chevalier, have created stories about the 14 portraits, purchased by the museum between 1858 and 1971.

The portraits, originally thought to represent famous people like Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, were overlooked for years as the identity of the sitters was either lost, disproved or disputed. The imaginary biographies and character sketches explore the stories of the sitters in the portraits. “Alexander McCall Smith has imagined an alternative life — as a body double for Mary, Queen of Scots — for a beautiful young woman. In a story entitled, Rosy, Tracy Chevalier has written about a portrait of a handsome young man with a flushed complexion as the object of homosexual desire,” a museum spokesperson said.

“The crime writer Minette Walters has written a poignant letter from the perspective of the wife of a man shown in a portrait, which brims with despair at her husband’s extravagance. The author and scriptwriter Julian Fellowes has created a subtle biography about a resourceful woman whose husband was executed in the reign of Henry VIII.” “Sarah Singleton has written about the adventures of a spice merchant and amateur musician struggling to make his way in the world despite his illegitimate status. Joanna Trollope has written a touching tale about the offer of a marriage proposal in the form of a letter from the sitter’s intended bride,” the spokesperson added.

Science fiction writer Sir Terry Pratchett has written an amusing tale about an explorer who presented Elizabeth I with a skunk and John Banville has seen in the features of a man laying upon his death bed the face of an admired officer serving with Cromwell’s Army. Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People opens at the National Portrait Gallery in London from December 3, 2011 until June 2012.