Henry VI

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By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter

A devilish figure that disappeared from a celebrated and controversial 18Th Century painting for decades has been rediscovered in a recent restoration.

Sir Joshua Reynolds painted a demon lurking in The Shadows in His picture The Death of Cardinal Beaufort , based on a Shakespearean Death scene.

But " The Fiend " eventually disappeared beneath layers of paint and varnish.

The 1789 artwork has now been put back on display at Petworth House in West Sussex , with The Demon in full view.

The fanged creature can be seen at The Head of The Bed , in The Shadows , as Cardinal Beaufort lies dying, with King Henry VI and two lords at His bedside.

It was based on a scene in Shakespeare's Henry Vi , Part II, and depicts the power-hungry and conspiring Cardinal in The Final throes of Death .

In The Play , King Henry laments The Cardinal - His great Uncle 's - Death , saying: 'O! beat away the busy, meddling fiend that lays siege unto this wretch's soul'.

That " fiend's" inclusion in the picture stirred controversy at The Time it was created because some thought Sir Joshua - considered one of The Greatest painters of His age - should not have explicitly shown an imaginary creature.

One critic described it as " too ludicrous and puerile to escape censure" while another said it " does no credit to The Judgement of the painter".

Monstrous figure

John Chu, The National Trust's senior national curator for pictures and sculpture, explained: " It didn't fit in with some of the artistic rules of The Times , to have a poetic figure of speech represented so literally in this monstrous figure.

" When it was first shown at The Shakespeare Gallery in 1789 it generated more controversy than any other work on show.

Critics argued that " while it was considered acceptable in literature to introduce the idea of a demon as something in the mind of a person, to include it visually in a painting gave it too physical a form" said Mr Chu.

Several Friends and commentators tried to persuade Sir Joshua not to include it - or, on The Painting 's completion, to paint it out.

'A mess of misinterpretation'

Over The Years , the disputed figure has faded into The Shadows , as the artwork was overpainted and given numerous layers of varnish by restorers.

Early conservators appeared to have " misunderstood" the figure, Mr Chu added, and within decades " that area seems to have deteriorated into small islands of paint and become less clear".

" Degradation of successive varnish layers over The Years made it even less visible, " he added.

Becca Hellen, The National Trust's senior national conservator for paintings, said the area around The Fiend was " especially difficult" to restore.

" With the layers added by early restorers, it had become a mess of misinterpretation and multiple layers of paints. "

The National Trust marked The Demon 's reappearance in the Painting With a timely announcement on Halloween.

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Source of news: bbc.com