(PCM) Pennsylvania artist Nelson Shanks has recently revealed that he slyly slipped in a secret reference to Monica Lewinsky in his portrait of former President Bill Clinton which currently hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
Shanks, who has painted everyone from Princess Diana to Pope John Paul II, also claims that Clinton was truly one of his hardest subjects to capture as he was incredibly nervous throughout their entire session.
Shanker told the Philadelphia Daily News, “The reality is he’s probably the most famous liar of all time. He and his administration did some very good things, of course, but I could never get this Monica thing completely out of my mind and it is subtly incorporated in the painting.”
He explained the subtle reference by revealing “If you look at the left-hand side of it there’s a mantle in the Oval Office and I put a shadow coming into the painting and it does two things. It actually literally represents a shadow from a blue dress that I had on a mannequin, that I had there while I was painting it, but not when he was there. It is also a bit of a metaphor in that it represents a shadow on the office he held, or on him.”
The Clintons obviously hate the portrait and are doing everything in their power to have it removed from the National Portrait Gallery, however the National Portrait Gallery denies this claim.