How a Lost Demon was uncovered in a Controversial Painting

The Death of Cardinal Beaufort (1789), by Sir Joshua Reynolds

The Death of Cardinal Beaufort by Joshua Reynolds depicts the final moments of the evil cardinal in Shakespeare’s Henry VI. In Act 3 Scene 3, the King witnesses the death and says, “Oh, beat back the interfering devil that attacks this man’s soul!”

Of course Shakespeare meant this figuratively, but the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds decided to paint a literal version of the scene. See the demon? It’s like something out of a horror movie.

When the painting was revealed in 1789, critics attacked it for being too graphic and in poor taste. One critic characterized it as "too ludicrous and puerile to escape censure". And so as the years went by the demon gradually faded into obscurity, with multiple layers of varnish being added until he’d disappeared completely from view (see below).

But even though the demon had disappeared, he remained hidden all along. Until a recent restoration by the National Art Trust restored the ghastly appartion to its full prominence. And so the demon is back, and here to stay.

Julian

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