Artwork thumb|right|Iron Maiden performing at Spain in 1982 As with all of Iron Maiden's albums during the 1980s and early 1990s, the sleeve artwork was painted by Derek Riggs. The cover was originally created for the song "Purgatory", but manager Rod Smallwood deemed it of too high a calibre for the release of a mere single, and decided to save it for The Number of the Beast. The original 1982 artwork includes a blue sky in the background; a mistake by the printers of the cover, this was corrected to black when the album was remastered for compact disc in 1998.
Artwork thumb|right|Iron .Maiden performing at Spain in 1982 As with all of Iron Maiden's albums during the 1980s and early 1990s, the sleeve artwork was painted by Derek Riggs. The cover was originally created for the song "Purgatory", but manager Rod Smallwood deemed it of too high a calibre for the release of a mere single, and decided to save it for The Number of th.e Beast. The original 1982 artwork includes a blue sky in the background; a mistake by the printers of the cover, this was corrected to black when the album was remastered for compact disc in 1998.