They had assembled an artistic dream team.

The legendary painter, Anton Van Dyck, had been hired to draw the face of King Charles

of England from multiple angles.

Next, those drawings were shipped to Italy, where sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini would bring

them to life in the form of a bust.

But his progress was much slower than the royal court back in England had expected, so they

asked for an explanation.

Bernini responded, telling them that every time he sat down to work on the bust, there

was something in the character of the King's face that unsettled him, and he would have

to walk away, over and over again.

Finally, in 1637, Bernini managed to complete his work, and it was transported back to

England.

The King, anxious to see the finished product, ordered it to be unveiled right there outside

the palace of Whitehall, and when he saw it, he smiled at its beauty.

Then, as they stood there, a hawk flew over the crowd, a freshly-killed animal in its

claws, and from that animal, a single drop of blood fell, landing directly on the neck

of this brand new, ghostly white bust of the King, which was then placed over a door

in the King's private chambers, without ever being cleaned.

A decade later, though, Charles I would be arrested and beheaded by the parliamentarians.

And those with an eye for detail have noted how that random drop of blood on the neck

of his bust almost seemed to hint at his future death, foreshadowing in all its macabre glory.

Humans have always been obsessed with fate.

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