Former Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was apparently so anxious to leave behind the memory of his wife, Maria Shriver — who was revealed in recent reports to have committed adultery even before he did — that he erased her face from his just-revealed gubernatorial portrait.
It’s not clear whose hands did the actual scrubbing, the New York Post reported.
But California Capitol sources said they were shocked to find her face absent from the 6-foot painting, unveiled just this week at the statehouse in Sacramento, the New York Post reported. Originally, the painting included a small face of Ms. Shriver on the lapel pin worn by Mr. Schwarzenegger.
Instead, the lapel of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s jacket displayed a blue swipe of paint, barely blended into the color of his suit.
“Whoever touched it up did not do a very good job,” Capitol tour guide Richard Granis told the New York Post. “It was softball-sized, right there on his left lapel.”
Another source told the New York Post that the scrub-job was especially visible because the paint swipe did not match the matte used by Austrian artist Gottfied Helnwein for the rest of the painting.
The divorce of Ms. Shriver and Mr. Schwarzenegger is not yet final. It’s been widely reported that Mr. Schwarzenegger fathered a child with the couple’s maid in 2010. Just a few days ago, it came to light in various press that Ms. Shriver had an affair with one of Mr. Schwarzenegger’s campaign staffers back in 2006.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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