The detail of the demon in Sir Joshua Reynolds’ painting The Death of Cardinal Beaufort was revealed after extensive cleaning. Petworth House / National Trust

Restorers uncover demon in a 1789 painting – and reveal the decline of superstition in the Age of Reason

The Enlightenment saw science and rational thought replace the religious superstitions of the previous century, and demons became metaphors for the human struggle between good and evil.

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