Hidden demon face lurking in 1789 painting uncovered by restorers ["The Death of Cardinal Beaufort"]

CBS News ^ | November 10, 2023 | Caitlin O'Kane

[SunkenCiv]

"The Death of Cardinal Beaufort" depicts a scene from Shakespeare's Henry VI Part 2, as the king witnesses the death of Cardinal Beaufort, his great uncle.

National Trust

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the link -- guess this file's been on deck a while.

[tumblindice]

Leave Santa Claus alone!

[Libloather]

Brandon with Hunter and the EMS team?

[Bob434]

is it a demon? Or simply death?

[SunkenCiv]

Hunter would have a pillow in both hands...

[Carry_Okie]

Quite the composition in basic shapes, but it makes hash of the rule of thirds.

I like it.

[SunkenCiv]

He was there to sleigh the guy.

[Leaning Right]

Let’s not all get carried away with wild speculation. It’s probably just one of Hillary Clinton’s ancestors, and nothing more.

[Steely Tom]

James Carville.

[SunkenCiv]

Good question, and great suggestion. William Blake was also putting various nefarious critters in some of his paintings during the 18th c.

In the 16th c Michelangelo did “The Last Judgement” behind the Sistine altar, and included Minos the Duke of Hell (?), modeled after one of his clerical critics at the Vatican, but portrayed himself as a flayed skin held by Saint Bartholomew.

H Bosch and Matthias Grünewald both painted centuries earlier and often including some scary figures. Hans Holbein the Younger painted “The Ambassadors” (16th c) which has a sort of smear low in the painting. When viewed from a certain angle the rest of the painting is smeared out and a skull appears.

The Nightmare – Henry Fuseli (mid 18th c)
https://www.artst.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/The-Nightmare-Henry-Fuseli-768x623.jpg

https://www.artst.org/demon-paintings/

[SunkenCiv]

LOL!

[SunkenCiv]

Heh, yeah, it may have been Yorick, he seems to have gotten around.

[HYPOCRACY]

It’s Jacob Marley.

[Jamestown1630]

LOL!

[SunkenCiv]

Jake had a hard time with the dreads, because he’d gone bald by the time he died.

[SunkenCiv]

:^)

[AnAmericanMother]

Relax - it's not a demon, it's the personification of death. Reynolds was drawing on a long tradition.

"Dance of Death" drawings were popular from medieval times right up into the 18th century. They simply drew the moral that death comes for all - from the highest to the lowest.

One of the best known is Hans Holbein's series.

Holbein - Dance of Death

[MNDude]

Creepy

[SunkenCiv]

Personification of death, grim reaper, etc, got more attention in graphic arts during the recurring bouts of The Plague.