Maria Shriver's Face Removed From Arnold Schwarzenegger's Official Portrait in California Capitol Building

Former governor had been wearing a pin with his wife's picture on it when he sat for the portrait pre-separation

Ultimately Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't want to be pinned for posterity.

When he sat for his official portrait that would hang in California's State Capitol building in Sacramento, the former governor of California was painted wearing a lapel pin with wife Maria Shriver's face on it.

A sweet idea, his wife of nearly 25 years and then the first lady of the Golden State remaining close to his heart, despite not being in the frame. But that was then...

In 2011, the power couple announced that they were splitting up. Then it was revealed that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son with their former maid. And now, upon the portrait's grand reveal...

Shriver's face has been scrubbed out.

Reps for Schwarzenegger and Shriver have not returned requests for comment, but Clay Russell, a former aide to the governor, acknowledged the pin's absence, telling the Los Angeles Times, "It's too bad they couldn't remove it without creating a smudge that got a lot of attention."

The New York Post was first to report the change in artistic direction, several days after the portrait's unveiling in Sacramento. Schwarzenegger was in attendance and smiled broadly next to his twin-on-canvas, painted by Austrian-Irish artist Gottfried Helnwein.

"When I was a young man in Austria, I dreamed about coming to California every day," Schwarzenegger, who was returning to the Capitol for the first time since he left office, told reporters. "But never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would become governor."