10 Hidden Details You Never Noticed In Famous Paintings
5. A Reminder Of Monica - Portrait Of Bill Clinton (Nelson Shanks)
![Nights Watch](https://d2thvodm3xyo6j.cloudfront.net/media/2017/07/d2f0c30630214ed0-600x338.jpg)
The most modern entry, the portrait of former US President Bill Clinton receives a special mention as the small, often missed, detail was pointed out by the artist himself.
Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC, the painting was the sister of the official portrait which hangs in the White House; all former presidents sit for an official portrait and usually at least two are produced: one to hang in the National Portrait Gallery and one in the White House.
Famed portrait artist Nelson Shanks, not content with a standard portrait, included a long shadow to the right of Clinton which is supposed to be a silhouette of a dress, representing the 'blue dress' that was the key McGuffin of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.
Shanks revealed his intent in an interview with the Philadelphia Daily News in 2015: 'Clinton is probably the most famous liar of all time... I felt it necessary to depart from complete naivety in the painting and put in a subtle, subtle shadow across his presidency...'
Shanks has also painted portraits of Princess Diana, Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher. It's as yet unclear what, if any, unsavoury easter eggs he may have hidden in his other works.