  For several decades a portrait of Johannes Kepler has been widely circulating
among professional astronomers, scientific and academic institutions, and the
general public. Despite its provenance and identification having been
questioned in the early part of the last century, this painting has reached
iconic status. We review its history from its first mention in the literature
in the 1870s to a published but virtually unknown judgment of competent art
experts of the 1920s that the work is in fact an early nineteenth century
forgery. We display the painting in context with other more secure portraits
and suggest that if it is based on anything, the painting may derive from the
well known portrait from life of Michael M\"astlin. This correction takes on
certain urgency since 2021 is the 450th anniversary of Kepler's birth.
