IF A picture paints a thousand words, the only official portrait of Tony Blair would say repeatedly that he had a big head and spent his last months in office exhausted.
The famously image-conscious prime minister agreed to two sittings for the artist Phil Hale, at his country retreat Chequers.
But Mr Blair eschewed vanity and, according to the artist, did not even try to "prettify" himself for the sittings.
The portrait, the only formal one of the former prime minister while in office, was commissioned for the Parliamentary art collection. Mr Hale said he was glad that Labour's longest-serving PM had "more pressing concerns than prettifying himself for a picture".
Mr Hale said: "I saw my role as a documentarist and tried – accordingly – to remain as transparent a presence as possible.
"Blair himself was very accommodating. I was lucky to see him at Chequers, and lucky that he had more pressing concerns than prettifying himself for a picture.
"I think we were well balanced in that sense; he didn't perform and I didn't divine."
He said the work "focuses on reconciling the structural integrity of the image, accepting the real power of image with the nature of the paint itself".
However his early words on the piece, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, before the painting was unveiled, showed that even he had concerns about Mr Blair's wellbeing and presentation.
In one e-mail Mr Hale said: "I should note that he was tired, and it is apparent in the photos. I don't think that will make for an inferior piece, but it is there."
At the time, Mr Blair's head was also said to be "too big".
Mr Hale, whose work hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, started his life as an artist by illustrating comic books in the United States.
The portrait of Mr Blair will be hung in Portcullis House, the new parliamentary building opposite the Palace of Westminster, along with pictures of other former PMs and leading political figures.
Hugo Swire, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons advisory committee on works of art, hailed the "authoritative and powerful portrait" as one of the most important recent additions to the collection.
Mr Blair's picture cannot be hung in the Palace itself as politicians have to have been out of Parliament for two full terms before being allowed to make an appearance there.
A bar on the living being represented at all was eased recently so that a new bust of the former PM Baroness Thatcher could be installed at the entrance to the Commons chamber.
Admirers of Lady Thatcher were also dismayed at its less than flattering portrayal of their hero.
