The artist behind Bill Clinton’s portrait in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery claims there is a shadow reference to the infamous Monica Lewinsky scandal.

PHILADELPHIA — While it has been a difficult year for netizens worldwide, some of which still can’t seem to settle the white and gold vs. blue and black dress debate, this past Sunday, Nelson Shanks reminded us that the world has faced similar struggles regarding a blue dress before.

Nelson Shanks/Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

In an interview conducted by the Philadelphia Daily News, the now 77-year old artist who has painted Princess Diana, Pope John Paul II, and Bill Clinton revealed a huge secret. In his 2006 portrait of Bill Clinton, which now hangs in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Shanks states the curious shadow beside Clinton is actually a reference to the blue dress affair that cast scrutiny and controversy over the presidency of the 42nd President.

When asked which portrait was the hardest to capture, Shanks said in his interview “Clinton was hard. I’ll tell you why. The reality is he’s probably the most famous liar of all time. He and his administration did some very good things, of course, but I could never get this Monica thing completely out of my mind and it is subtly incorporated in the painting.”

The Monica Lewinsky scandal was perhaps the most famous sex scandal in American history, breaking international headlines in 1998. Across the globe, people learned that the 49 year-old President, Bill Clinton, was having an extramarital affair with the then 22-year old White House intern, Monica Lewsinky. It was concluded through DNA testing that semen found on Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress belonged to Clinton, who had denied the affair under oath. The scandal eventually led to Clinton’s impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives on the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. He was later acquitted by the U.S. Senate– letting Clinton carry on his presidency for a full two terms.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

“If you look at the left-hand side of it there’s a mantle in the Oval Office and I put a shadow coming into the painting and it does two things. It actually literally represents a shadow from a blue dress that I had on a mannequin, that I had there while I was painting it, but not when he was there. It is also a bit of a metaphor in that it represents a shadow on the office he held, or on him,” Shanks said. “And so the Clintons hate the portrait. They want it removed from the National Portrait Gallery. They’re putting a lot of pressure on them.”

While Shanks claims that the Clintons hate the painting and wanted it taken out of the gallery, a spokeswoman for the gallery disputed that declaration and told Buzzfeed News, “The Clintons have not asked to have Nelson Shanks’ painting of Bill Clinton to be removed from the National Portrait Gallery.”

Despite the fact that the Clinton family could not be reached for further comment, one thing is certain: blue dresses appear to be making major headlines in the United States these days. And no one seems to be happy about it.

This story was orignally published as a Pace University piece on March 2nd, 2015.