I was listening to a short story on Radio 4 Extra at the weekend, written by Roald Dahl, called Someone Like You.
A brieft synopsis is the protagonist, a Not Very Nice Man, gets slighted by a Lady. To get his revenge he commissions a painting of the Lady by to a Top Painter. The protagonist is Very Rich and, we learn, a Top Picture Restorer.
The picture is duly delivered, depicting the Lady in a full length black dress. As he's a Top Picture Restorer he whips out some cotton wool and turpentine and starts dabbing at the black paint to reveal the Lady's undergarments. He then dabs some more to end up with a picture of the Lady in undergarments and showing her bow legs, which he then springs upon unsuspecting guests at a dinner party.
WTAF?
Now my knowledge of painting is restricted to mostly emulsion and non-drip gloss, but I'm pretty sure paintings don't work like that.