The devil is in the detail – literally hidden.When a British couple discovered a concealed, almost lifesize mural of Henry VIII while redecorating their 16th-century Somerset home a couple of years ago, they could not have been more excited, particularly when an expert spoke of its national importance.  But husband-and-wife Angie and Rhodri Powell were unnerved by a further chance discovery.When the portrait of Henry on his throne is viewed upside-down his features transform into the devil, with horns and goats’ eyes. The devil appears too when the mural is viewed through a glass.The mural is in the couple's drawing-room in the village of Milverton, the former Great Hall of the summer residence of 16th-century archdeacons of Taunton including Thomas Cranmer.While Henry’s portrait would have been an expression of loyalty, the hidden message suggests it was commissioned by someone with quite another view of a monarch who established himself as head of the Church in England in place of the Pope.Mrs Powell, a bestselling children’s author who writes under the name Angie Safe, and Mr Powell, a former publisher, came across the devil by accident.They were relaxing upstairs by an open fire one evening when they noticed that a postcard of the mural which they had printed had fallen on the floor upside-down – revealing the portrait’s sinister side.Mrs Powell recalled: 'It was fairly low light. My husband noticed the face…We were both very spooked. It’s quite an unpleasant image. I was bit horrified… I realised it was the devil.'They were so unnerved that they did not venture downstairs that evening.The next morning, they 'very gingerly opened the door', and were reassured to find Henry with the 'same old benign expression', Mrs Powell said.As they peered more closely, they realised how skilfully the dangerous image had been concealed. The king’s narrow shoulders become the devil’s pointed chin and oddly-shaped sleeve-cuffs were satanic eye-sockets.The mural, which is thought to date from around the 1530s or 1540s, is almost six foot high and 20 foot wide.Dr Kathryn Davies, a wall paintings specialist with English Heritage who is researching the mural, said: 'It does look quite evil… Hold a glass up to it, it's bizarre. You get quite an eerie picture.'Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, a specialist in the history of the church at Oxford University and Cranmer biographer, said that there was tremendous interest in optical illusion at the time, as shown by the distorted perspectives in Holbein's famous painting of The Ambassadors and William Scrots's portrait of Edward VI.'So there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be true,' he said.He noted that one of the then archdeacons felt 'very equivocally' about Henry VIII’s Reformation: 'It's just possible that, for a private joke, he put it in because you could only see it through an optic. I imagine that, in the privacy of his own dining-room… it could be enjoyable.'For obvious reasons, the painting is unsigned.Conservator Ann Ballantyne, who is working on the mural, noted that it was painted at a time when the king was behaving 'excruciatingly badly'.The Powells are no longer frightened. Mr Powell said: 'This was really…a delightful piece of satire.'As the old proverb goes: 'The devil is not so black as he is painted.'ANN.Az