ong Lost Portrait

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

One of the rooms that the Baron took great pride in visiting was the portrait gallery. It had portraits of mostly all of the ancestral leaders of Lilliland. That is, all but one.

The missing portrait was that of the Baron’s great, great grandfather. For many years it hung very proudly. Then all of a sudden it was reported missing. The pictures were annually taken down for cleaning and restoration and then hung back up again in the proper order.

The missing portrait was that of Edward Von Lodge whose valiant efforts in recorded history kept Lilliland intact while many other countries were folding.

A thorough search of the castle and grounds did not produce the portrait. It was finally given up for lost and the person in charge of the restoration was dismissed from his post for losing the valued portrait. One of the things that the Baron admired most about his great, great grandfather was his motto. He said, “Lead by fine example.” The Baron always remembered learning about his ancestor who was also a Baron of Lilliland. His wisdom made it possible for the current Baron to be the leader of Lilliland.

There were some old paintings that people did not like very much in a spare attic room. They were checked over to see if Baron Edward’s picture was accidentally misplaced among them. But it was not to be found.

Then one day, quite by accident, a leaky ceiling in the attic room began to drip water on one of the pictures. The paint began to run. This was very unusual because all of the paintings were supposed to be done in oil paint, and that was not water-soluble.

A new restorer was brought in to examine the painting and he quickly discovered that there was another painting concealed under the paint that ran. After a careful cleaning, it was discovered that the painting underneath was the long lost portrait of Baron Edward.

After it was carefully restored, it was placed back in the gallery of portraits. This made the Baron very happy.

It was only speculated as to why a picture was painted on top of the Baron’s portrait. Probably to protect it from robbers or those who planned to seek his ouster.

If that was the case, the plan worked well. “Perhaps too well,” the Baron said.