Dorian's Afterlife

The story has inspired countless adaptations:

• The 1945 film, whose decaying portrait was painted by artist Ivan Albright in deliberately hideous detail
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comics, which recast Dorian as a team member

The idea of a hidden portrait aging while its subject stays young is now cultural shorthand for concealed corruption. When people say someone "has a portrait in the attic," they reference Wilde whether they know it or not.