Demonic figure discovered in painting over 200 years after restoration. Photo: National Trust
A figure resembling the devil was discovered in a painting by a renowned artist over 200 years after restoration
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The discovery came as a result of conservation work carried out by the National Trust on a painting depicting a Shakespearean scene titled “The Death of Cardinal Beaufort,” painted by the 18th-century artist Joshua Reynolds, who died in 1792.
Referred to by the Trust as a “demon” or evil spirit, the painted figure was controversial in its time. The figure, which included fangs and a sinister expression, was painted at the headboard, directly above the dying Beaufort.
“It didn’t fit within some of the artistic rules of the time to have a figurative representation as literally depicted in this monstrous figure,” said John Chu, the National Trust’s senior curator of images and sculptures.
“Even though it was considered acceptable in literature to introduce the idea of a demon as something within a person’s mind, including it visually in a painting gave it a too physical form. There were even debates about whether it should have been painted, although records of conversations with the artist show that he resisted attempts to alter the work.”
Reynolds’ painting, first unveiled at the Shakespeare Gallery in 1789, is one of four that the National Trust conserved to mark the artist’s 300th birth anniversary.
With information from NYpost
