BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- In a painting entitled
"Iraq Triptych," Tony Blair was depicted as a naked, stony-faced person and
surrounded by haunting images of the war in Iraq, according to European media's
reports.
The painting, a charcoal work measuring 4.5
meters by 1.5 meters by Michael Sandle, was unveiled Wednesday at the Royal
Academy of Art's annual Summer Exhibition. It has won the top Hugh Casson prize
for drawing.
This painting depicts Blair and his wife, Cherie, as
Adam and Eve, struggling to cover their nude forms outside their Downing Street
home. Behind them the figures are flanked by piles of bones, body parts and
skulls.
"This is a biblical allegory -- Adam and Eve expelled
from paradise -- and this is Blair's legacy," Sandle said, calling the Iraq war
"disgraceful."
The artist accused Blair of "vanity" for supporting
the United States in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and said Britain had a habit of
"interfering overseas."
"He doesn't appear to feel a twinge of conscience
about Iraq because he is so sure that he did the right thing," Sandle said.
"They have talked about the original perpetrators of
violence being the ones who should apologize, but what about the 650,000 Iraqis
who have died since the invasion?
"Who is going to apologize to them, and how?"
Blair is stepping down as prime minister on June 27
and will be succeeded by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown.
(Agencies)