A closer look
Step into a royal gallery, and you’ll be greeted by kings with glowing skin, broad shoulders, and radiant eyes. But peel back the paint and the truth was often less flattering. Monarchs ordered painters to disguise their ailments: hide the swollen jaw, smooth the scarred skin, straighten the crooked leg. The portraits weren’t just flattering—they were propaganda, an official version of health and power. Centuries later, these perfected images still stand as ‘truth,’ painting over reality. In their quest for eternal strength, rulers spun art into one of history’s earliest versions of photo editing.
