The daily sentinel., 1907-04-20
INSULT JUST DISCOVERED.
Intensely Interesting Discovery Re-
garding Famous Painters In
sultingly Funny Pictures
OF Royalty.


More than 200 years ago Antonio
Verrio, a painter took revenge on
William III, of England. by painting
a clever caricature of him riding on a
black donkey. The caricature was
not discovered by the king for 1t was
concealed In the famous painting of
"The Kings Staircase" in Hampton
I Court, In London.
The insult was discovered recently
/ by Charles Allom, artist-decorator for
the King of England and the Prince
of Wales. He also discovered that
in a ceiling in Whitehall palace,
which was painted for Charles l. by
Rubens, there are many mystic fig
ures that are supposed to have some
allegorical meaning, but the key of
which has never been found. Mr..
Allom is now In this city at the Hotel
Manhattan.
Within few hours after he had
exposed the old secret, less than
fortnight ago, Mr.. Allom left for this
country, where he Is engaged on i'm
portant commissions for Messrs. j.
Pierpont Morgan, senior and junior.
and other clients. This departure
his discoveries in London. Only yes
terday he received from his brother,
from their studio, No. Is George
street. Hanover square. photographs
which show how William of Orange
was flouted by the artists he had
commanded to do the work.
Full extent of the insult has not
been made clear for there has also
been found a sinister triple faced
Diana, probably modelled after the
features of some court lady, possibly
Mary, Williams queen to whom a
Cupid, wearing the features of the
king mounted on black donkey, is
paying alteration.
II was determined recently to have
restored the mural and ceiling paint
ings of the kings great staircase in
Hampton Court palace. This stair
case and the additions to the palace
were designed by Christopher Wren,
the great architect, who created st.
Paul's cathedral. The painting was
done by Antonio Verrio, an Italian
who, an ardent Catholic, was bitterly
opposed to William of Orange, be-
cause of the latters Calyinlsm.
Redgrave. great art critic, says
of Verrio and the work which is now
In the public eye:
"At the time of the revolution Yer
rio absolutely refused to do any work
for William III, but after employ
ment at Chatsworth and Burleigh, he
finally painted his well-known work
the great staircase at Hampton
court"
Now it develops that the real rea-
son of his submission to the kings
command lay in the opportunity
he saw IN rpvenPa himsalf unon tha
Protestant monarch. The ceiling and
the walls were painted with figures
of the mythical gods and goddesses
In various incidents. Near the top
of the stairway directly alongside of
heroic picture of Mercury, there
appears among the many eupids one
of larger size than his fellows.
He is on the back of donkey and
gazes upward at Diana I'm an attitude
of supplication and alteration. Att
a distance the cuplds appears of the
usual type, but when Mr.. Allen had
examined 1t closely from a scaffold,
he found the face was a perfect carl
cature of William of Orange, whose
bald head. with his wig removed.
showed a fringe of sparse gray hair
at the nape of the neck, is to be seen
quite clarly at short range.
This clearly intended insult is ac-
ctuated when the head of Diana is
seen. She is seated on crescent and
appears as a beautiful woman. But
looked at intently. it is discovered
that she wears three faces, one in
front and the other two on the sides
of her head, with the ears forming
the noses. These features have al
most sinister expressions.