Barack and Michelle Obama have returned to the White House for the unveiling of their official portraits.

More than five years after Mr Obama completed his second term in the Oval Office, he and his wife were hosted by the man who served as his vice president, Joe Biden.

Prior to the unveilings in the East Room, the current US president greeted the couple, saying: “Welcome home.”

He added: “With Barack as our president we got up every day and went to work full of hope.

“Mr president, nothing could have prepared me better or more to become president of the United States than to be at your side for eight years, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

Mr Obama, speaking once he and his wife had lifted the covers from their likenesses, said it was “great to be back”, and said Mr Biden had “guided us through some perilous times”.

He went on: “When people ask me what I miss most about the White House years it is not Air Force One that I talk about.”

The former president, whose second term in power ended in January 2017, added, bringing laughter, “although I miss Air Force One”.

Some of the people who served under him were there, and he said the thing he missed was the “chance that I had to stand shoulder to shoulder with all of you”.

His portrait has been painted in a photorealistic style by artist Robert McCurdy.

Mr Obama is depicted on a white background, in an image that recalls previous portraits he did of Toni
Morrison and Nelson Mandela.

The former first lady is pictured in a blue dress in the White House’s Red Room, in a painting by Brooklyn artist Sharon
Sprung.

Large, formal portraits of US presidents and first ladies adorn walls, hallways and rooms throughout the White House.

While it is customary for a former president to return for the unveiling, Donald Trump did not hold a ceremony for the Obamas while he held the top job.

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