Terry Gilliam reveals bare foot was inspired by Bronzino’s allegory of Venus, Cupid and Madness during a visit to the National Gallery

Comedian Terry Gilliam has revealed that Monty Python’s famous foot was “stolen” from a 16th century painting in the National Gallery.

The foot, which famously stomps twice in Monty Python’s Flying Circus, was inspired by a similar bare foot in Agnolo Bronzino’s painting An Allegory with Venus and Cupid.

Mr Gilliam appeared in a documentary film to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the National Gallery, where he recounts how he noticed Cupid’s foot above a dove in the lower corner of the painting.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said: “It looked like his foot was about to crush the unsuspecting bird. I thought it would make a nice punctuation – a sudden stop to what was happening.

“Cupid’s foot made it even better, because what’s better than being crushed by love.”

Gilliam is one of 16 people, including celebrities and gallery staff, who appear in the film and discuss their favorite paintings at the National Gallery.

Another member of Monty Python also appears in a documentary which will be shown in 300 cinemas across the UK. As a famous train enthusiast, Mr. Palin chose, unsurprisingly, Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed.

He said: “It shows the birth of the railways.

“Yet Turner also represents the countryside, counterbalanced by the train. It’s a real story in which we feel that the New World will win.

Meanwhile, Princess Eugenie chose Correggio’s Madonna of the Basket. She said: A mother looking after her young child and struggling to put on her jacket. I recently had a second baby and I know the feeling.

Some even claim that a painting saved their life, as is the case with Peter Murphy.

Mr Murphy suffered from a serious drug and alcohol addiction in the 1990s and 2000s while working on Channel 4’s Eurotrash. But a stint at the gallery in 2009 had a profound impact on him.

He said: “I’ve been there before, but this time I found myself drawn to a blue colored painting. It was Bellini’s Madonna in the Meadows.

“Very quickly, the serenity and calm of this Virgin and Child touched me. I am not religious although raised by a very strict Catholic father. Seeing the Madonna made me think that “Mom is home”.

He then visited the painting every day for 12 months and credits the famous artwork with helping him quit alcohol and drugs.

Mr Murphy added: “The painting gives me inner peace. And luckily, the gallery is free. I just feel like I belong here. This is my club. This is my National Gallery.