diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiFontMetrics.C b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiFontMetrics.C
index 544ee5348f..36fc33dde0 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiFontMetrics.C
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiFontMetrics.C
@@ -116,9 +116,10 @@ int GuiFontMetrics::smallcapsWidth(QString const & s) const
 int GuiFontMetrics::width(char_type const * s, size_t ls) const
 {
 	if (ls == 1 && !smallcaps_shape_) {
-		QChar c = ucs4_to_qchar(s[0]);
+		QChar const c = ucs4_to_qchar(s[0]);
 		return width(c.unicode());
 	}
+
 	QString ucs2;
 	ucs4_to_qstring(s, ls, ucs2);
 
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.C b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.C
index 2f04f8a6f9..12978499a9 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.C
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.C
@@ -21,12 +21,19 @@
 #include "LyXView.h"
 
 #include "BufferView.h"
+#include "rowpainter.h"
 #include "debug.h"
 #include "funcrequest.h"
 #include "LColor.h"
+#include "version.h"
+#include "lyxrc.h"
 
+#include "support/filetools.h" // LibFileSearch
 #include "support/os.h"
 
+#include "graphics/GraphicsImage.h"
+#include "graphics/GraphicsLoader.h"
+
 #include <QLayout>
 #include <QMainWindow>
 #include <QMimeData>
@@ -53,6 +60,15 @@ using std::string;
 
 namespace os = lyx::support::os;
 
+
+volatile int NN;
+
+void recCalled()
+{
+	++NN;
+}
+
+
 namespace lyx {
 
 /// return the LyX key state from Qt's
@@ -115,17 +131,15 @@ SyntheticMouseEvent::SyntheticMouseEvent()
 
 
 GuiWorkArea::GuiWorkArea(int w, int h, LyXView & lyx_view)
-	: WorkArea(lyx_view), painter_(this)
+	: WorkArea(lyx_view)
 {
 	setVerticalScrollBarPolicy(Qt::ScrollBarAlwaysOn);
 	setHorizontalScrollBarPolicy(Qt::ScrollBarAlwaysOff);
-
 	setAcceptDrops(true);
-
 	setMinimumSize(100, 70);
 
-	viewport()->setAutoFillBackground(false);
-	viewport()->setAttribute(Qt::WA_OpaquePaintEvent);
+	//viewport()->setAutoFillBackground(false);
+	//viewport()->setAttribute(Qt::WA_OpaquePaintEvent);
 	setFocusPolicy(Qt::WheelFocus);
 
 	viewport()->setCursor(Qt::IBeamCursor);
@@ -410,10 +424,11 @@ void GuiWorkArea::mouseDoubleClickEvent(QMouseEvent * e)
 }
 
 
-void GuiWorkArea::resizeEvent(QResizeEvent *)
+void GuiWorkArea::resizeEvent(QResizeEvent * ev)
 {
 	verticalScrollBar()->setPageStep(viewport()->height());
-	paint_device_ = QPixmap(viewport()->width(), viewport()->height());
+	//paint_device_ = QPixmap(viewport()->width(), viewport()->height());
+	QAbstractScrollArea::resizeEvent(ev);
 	resizeBufferView();
 }
 
@@ -424,12 +439,93 @@ void GuiWorkArea::update(int x, int y, int w, int h)
 }
 
 
-void GuiWorkArea::paintEvent(QPaintEvent * e)
+void GuiWorkArea::doGreyOut(QLPainter & pain)
 {
-	lyxerr << "paintEvent begin: x: " << e->rect().x()
-		<< " y: " << e->rect().y()
-		<< " w: " << e->rect().width()
-		<< " h: " << e->rect().height() << endl;
+	greyed_out_ = true;
+	pain.fillRectangle(0, 0, width(), height(),
+		LColor::bottomarea);
+
+	//if (!lyxrc.show_banner)
+	//	return;
+	lyxerr << "show banner: " << lyxrc.show_banner << endl;
+	/// The text to be written on top of the pixmap
+	string const text = lyx_version ? lyx_version : "unknown";
+	string const file = support::libFileSearch("images", "banner", "ppm");
+	if (file.empty())
+		return;
+
+	QPixmap pm(toqstr(file));
+	if (!pm) {
+		lyxerr << "could not load splash screen: '" << file << "'" << endl;
+		return;
+	}
+
+	QFont font;
+	// The font used to display the version info
+	font.setStyleHint(QFont::SansSerif);
+	font.setWeight(QFont::Bold);
+	font.setPointSize(LyXFont::SIZE_NORMAL);
+
+	int const w = pm.width();
+	int const h = pm.height();
+
+	int x = (width() - w) / 2;
+	int y = (height() - h) / 2;
+
+	pain.drawPixmap(x, y, pm);
+
+	x += 260;
+	y += 265;
+
+	pain.setPen(QColor(255, 255, 0));
+	pain.setFont(font);
+	pain.drawText(x, y, toqstr(text));
+}
+
+
+void GuiWorkArea::paintEvent(QPaintEvent * ev)
+{
+	//setAttribute(Qt::WA_PaintOutsidePaintEvent, true);
+	QRect const rc = ev->rect(); 
+	lyxerr << "paintEvent begin: x: " << rc.x()
+		<< " y: " << rc.y()
+		<< " w: " << rc.width()
+		<< " h: " << rc.height() << endl;
+
+	if (!buffer_view_) {
+		lyxerr << "no bufferview" << endl;
+		return;
+	}
+
+	QLPainter pain(viewport());
+
+	if (rc.width() == 3) { // FIXME HACK
+		// Assume splash screen drawing is requested when
+		// widht == 3
+		doGreyOut(pain);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	if (!buffer_view_->buffer()) {
+		lyxerr << "no buffer: " << endl;
+		doGreyOut(pain);
+		updateScrollbar();
+		return;
+	}
+
+
+	if (rc.width() != 2)  { // FIXME HACK
+		// Assumes cursor drawing is requested when the
+		// width is 2
+		lyxerr << "Real drawing requested" << endl;
+		ViewMetricsInfo const & vi = buffer_view_->viewMetricsInfo();
+		paintText(*buffer_view_, vi, pain);
+	}
+	else {
+		//
+		lyxerr << "only cursor drawing requested" << endl;
+	}
+
 	/*
 	lyxerr[Debug::GUI] << BOOST_CURRENT_FUNCTION
 		<< "\n QWidget width\t" << this->width()
@@ -445,15 +541,13 @@ void GuiWorkArea::paintEvent(QPaintEvent * e)
 		<< endl;
 	*/
 
-	QPainter q(viewport());
-	q.drawPixmap(e->rect(), paint_device_, e->rect());
+	//pain.drawPixmap(e->rect(), paint_device_, e->rect());
 
 	if (show_vcursor_)
-		q.drawPixmap(cursor_x_, cursor_y_, vcursor_);
+		pain.drawPixmap(cursor_x_, cursor_y_, vcursor_);
 
 	if (show_hcursor_)
-		q.drawPixmap(cursor_x_, cursor_y_ + cursor_h_ - 1, hcursor_);
-
+		pain.drawPixmap(cursor_x_, cursor_y_ + cursor_h_ - 1, hcursor_);
 	lyxerr << "paintEvent end" << endl;
 }
 
@@ -550,8 +644,7 @@ void GuiWorkArea::inputMethodEvent(QInputMethodEvent * e)
 			key = Qt::Key_AsciiCircum;
 		// FIXME: Needs for investigation, this key is not really used,
 		// the ctor below just check if key is different from 0.
-		QKeyEvent ev(QEvent::KeyPress, key,
-			Qt::NoModifier, text);
+		QKeyEvent ev(QEvent::KeyPress, key, Qt::NoModifier, text);
 		keyPressEvent(&ev);
 	}
 	e->accept();
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.h b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.h
index c8aaac8b8e..2117f073cc 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.h
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/GuiWorkArea.h
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 
 #include "frontends/WorkArea.h"
 
-#include "QLPainter.h"
-
 #include "funcrequest.h"
 #include "frontends/Timeout.h"
 
@@ -36,12 +34,10 @@ class QWheelEvent;
 class QPaintEvent;
 
 namespace lyx {
-
-class Painter;
-
 namespace frontend {
 
 class GuiView;
+class QLPainter;
 
 /// for emulating triple click
 class double_click {
@@ -89,7 +85,7 @@ public:
  * Qt-specific implementation of the work area
  * (buffer view GUI)
 */
-class GuiWorkArea: public QAbstractScrollArea, public WorkArea
+class GuiWorkArea : public QAbstractScrollArea, public WorkArea
 {
 	Q_OBJECT
 
@@ -104,18 +100,6 @@ public:
 	///
 	virtual void setScrollbarParams(int height, int pos, int line_height);
 
-	///
-	virtual void dragEnterEvent(QDragEnterEvent * event);
-
-	///
-	virtual void dropEvent(QDropEvent* event);
-
-	/// return the widget's painter
-	virtual Painter & getPainter() { return (Painter &) painter_; }
-
-	/// return the backing pixmap
-	QPaintDevice * paintDevice() { return &paint_device_; }
-
 	/// update the passed area.
 	void update(int x, int y, int w, int h);
 
@@ -128,8 +112,12 @@ public:
 	/// hide the cursor
 	virtual void removeCursor();
 
-protected:
-
+private:
+	void doGreyOut(QLPainter & pain);
+	///
+	void dragEnterEvent(QDragEnterEvent * event);
+	///
+	void dropEvent(QDropEvent* event);
 	/// repaint part of the widget
 	void paintEvent(QPaintEvent * e);
 	/// widget has been resized
@@ -164,10 +152,6 @@ public Q_SLOTS:
 	void adjustViewWithScrollBar(int action = 0);
 
 private:
-
-	/// Our painter.
-	QLPainter painter_;
-
 	/// The slot connected to SyntheticMouseEvent::timeout.
 	void generateSyntheticMouseEvent();
 
@@ -175,7 +159,7 @@ private:
 	SyntheticMouseEvent synthetic_mouse_event_;
 
 	/// Our client side painting device.
-	QPixmap paint_device_;
+	//QPixmap paint_device_;
 
 	/// \todo remove
 	QTimer step_timer_;
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.C b/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.C
index db3f13bd4f..b08a0ae698 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.C
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.C
@@ -33,8 +33,6 @@
 #include <QPixmap>
 #include <QImage>
 
-using lyx::char_type;
-using lyx::docstring;
 
 using std::endl;
 using std::string;
@@ -42,22 +40,12 @@ using std::string;
 namespace lyx {
 namespace frontend {
 
-QLPainter::~QLPainter()
+QLPainter::QLPainter(QWidget * qwa)
+	: qwa_(qwa)
 {
-}
-
-
-QLPainter::QLPainter(GuiWorkArea * qwa)
-	: Painter(), qwa_(qwa)
-{
-}
-
-
-void QLPainter::start()
-{
-	lyxerr << "QLPainter::start()" << endl;
-	qp_.reset(new QPainter(qwa_->paintDevice()));
-	qp_->setRenderHint(QPainter::TextAntialiasing);
+	//lyxerr << "QLPainter::start()" << endl;
+	QPainter::begin(qwa_);
+	setRenderHint(QPainter::TextAntialiasing);
 	// new QPainter has default QPen:
 	current_color_ = LColor::black;
 	current_ls_ = line_solid;
@@ -65,24 +53,25 @@ void QLPainter::start()
 }
 
 
-void QLPainter::end()
+QLPainter::~QLPainter()
 {
-	qp_->end();
-	lyxerr << "QLPainter::end()" << endl;
+	QPainter::end();
+	//lyxerr << "QLPainter::end()" << endl;
 }
 
 
 int QLPainter::paperWidth() const
 {
-	return qwa_->viewport()->width();
+	return qwa_->width();
 }
 
 
 int QLPainter::paperHeight() const
 {
-	return qwa_->viewport()->height();
+	return qwa_->height();
 }
 
+
 void QLPainter::setQPainterPen(LColor_color col,
 	Painter::line_style ls, Painter::line_width lw)
 {
@@ -93,7 +82,7 @@ void QLPainter::setQPainterPen(LColor_color col,
 	current_ls_ = ls;
 	current_lw_ = lw;
 
-	QPen pen = qp_.get()->pen();
+	QPen pen = QPainter::pen();
 
 	pen.setColor(guiApp->colorCache().get(col));
 
@@ -107,14 +96,14 @@ void QLPainter::setQPainterPen(LColor_color col,
 		case line_thick: pen.setWidth(3); break;
 	}
 
-	qp_.get()->setPen(pen);
+	setPen(pen);
 }
 
 
 void QLPainter::point(int x, int y, LColor_color col)
 {
 	setQPainterPen(col);
-	qp_->drawPoint(x, y);
+	drawPoint(x, y);
 }
 
 
@@ -124,7 +113,7 @@ void QLPainter::line(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2,
 	line_width lw)
 {
 	setQPainterPen(col, ls, lw);
-	qp_->drawLine(x1, y1, x2, y2);
+	drawLine(x1, y1, x2, y2);
 }
 
 
@@ -144,7 +133,7 @@ void QLPainter::lines(int const * xp, int const * yp, int np,
 	}
 
 	setQPainterPen(col, ls, lw);
-	qp_->drawPolyline(points.get(), np);
+	drawPolyline(points.get(), np);
 }
 
 
@@ -154,13 +143,13 @@ void QLPainter::rectangle(int x, int y, int w, int h,
 	line_width lw)
 {
 	setQPainterPen(col, ls, lw);
-	qp_->drawRect(x, y, w, h);
+	drawRect(x, y, w, h);
 }
 
 
 void QLPainter::fillRectangle(int x, int y, int w, int h, LColor_color col)
 {
-	qp_->fillRect(x, y, w, h, guiApp->colorCache().get(col));
+	fillRect(x, y, w, h, guiApp->colorCache().get(col));
 }
 
 
@@ -169,25 +158,24 @@ void QLPainter::arc(int x, int y, unsigned int w, unsigned int h,
 {
 	// LyX usings 1/64ths degree, Qt usings 1/16th
 	setQPainterPen(col);
-	qp_->drawArc(x, y, w, h, a1 / 4, a2 / 4);
+	drawArc(x, y, w, h, a1 / 4, a2 / 4);
 }
 
 
-void QLPainter::image(int x, int y, int w, int h,
-	lyx::graphics::Image const & i)
+void QLPainter::image(int x, int y, int w, int h, graphics::Image const & i)
 {
-	lyx::graphics::QLImage const & qlimage =
-		static_cast<lyx::graphics::QLImage const &>(i);
+	graphics::QLImage const & qlimage =
+		static_cast<graphics::QLImage const &>(i);
 
 	fillRectangle(x, y, w, h, LColor::graphicsbg);
 
-	qp_->drawImage(x, y, qlimage.qimage(), 0, 0, w, h);
+	drawImage(x, y, qlimage.qimage(), 0, 0, w, h);
 }
 
 
 int QLPainter::text(int x, int y, docstring const & s, LyXFont const & f)
 {
-    return text(x, y, reinterpret_cast<char_type const *>(s.data()), s.length(), f);
+	 return text(x, y, reinterpret_cast<char_type const *>(s.data()), s.length(), f);
 }
 
 
@@ -209,16 +197,16 @@ int QLPainter::smallCapsText(int x, int y,
 
 	setQPainterPen(f.realColor());
 	int textwidth = 0;
-	size_t ls = s.length();
+	size_t const ls = s.length();
 	for (unsigned int i = 0; i < ls; ++i) {
 		QChar const c = s[i].toUpper();
 		if (c != s.at(i)) {
-			qp_->setFont(qsmallfont);
+			setFont(qsmallfont);
 		} else {
-			qp_->setFont(qfont);
+			setFont(qfont);
 		}
-		qp_->drawText(x + textwidth, y, c);
-		textwidth += qp_->fontMetrics().width(c);
+		drawText(x + textwidth, y, c);
+		textwidth += fontMetrics().width(c);
 	}
 	return textwidth;
 }
@@ -249,13 +237,12 @@ int QLPainter::text(int x, int y, char_type const * s, size_t ls,
 
 	if (f.realShape() != LyXFont::SMALLCAPS_SHAPE) {
 		setQPainterPen(f.realColor());
-		if (qp_->font() != fi.font) {
-			qp_->setFont(fi.font);
-		}
+		if (font() != fi.font)
+			setFont(fi.font);
 		// We need to draw the text as LTR as we use our own bidi code.
-		qp_->setLayoutDirection(Qt::LeftToRight);
-		qp_->drawText(x, y, str);
-		textwidth = qp_->fontMetrics().width(str);
+		setLayoutDirection(Qt::LeftToRight);
+		drawText(x, y, str);
+		textwidth = fontMetrics().width(str);
 	} else {
 		textwidth = smallCapsText(x, y, str, f);
 	}
@@ -268,16 +255,5 @@ int QLPainter::text(int x, int y, char_type const * s, size_t ls,
 }
 
 
-void QLPainter::drawPixmap(int x, int y, QPixmap const & pixmap)
-{
-	qp_->drawPixmap(x, y, pixmap);
-}
-
-
-void QLPainter::drawImage(int x, int y, QImage const & image)
-{
-	qp_->drawImage(x, y, image);
-}
-
 } // namespace frontend
 } // namespace lyx
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.h b/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.h
index 0a80eaa42c..72048e89f3 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.h
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/QLPainter.h
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 #include <boost/scoped_ptr.hpp>
 
+#include <QPainter>
+
 class QPaintDevice;
 class QPainter;
 class QString;
@@ -34,18 +36,8 @@ class GuiWorkArea;
 /**
  * QLPainter - a painter implementation for Qt4
  */
-class QLPainter : public Painter {
+class QLPainter : public QPainter, public Painter {
 public:
-	QLPainter(GuiWorkArea *);
-
-	~QLPainter();
-
-	/// begin painting
-	virtual void start();
-
-	/// end painting
-	virtual void end();
-
 	/// return the width of the work area in pixels
 	virtual int paperWidth() const;
 	/// return the height of the work area in pixels
@@ -119,13 +111,11 @@ public:
 	virtual int text(int x, int y,
                 lyx::char_type c, LyXFont const & f);
 
-	/// draw a pixmap from the image cache
-	virtual void drawPixmap(int x, int y, QPixmap const & pixmap);
-
-	/// draw a pixmap from the image cache
-	virtual void drawImage(int x, int y, QImage const & image);
-
 private:
+	friend class GuiWorkArea;
+	QLPainter(QWidget *);
+	~QLPainter();
+
 	/// draw small caps text
 	/**
 	\return width of the drawn text.
@@ -138,11 +128,8 @@ private:
 		line_style ls = line_solid,
 		line_width lw = line_thin);
 
-	/// our qt painter
-	boost::scoped_ptr<QPainter> qp_;
-
 	/// the working area
-	GuiWorkArea * qwa_;
+	QWidget * qwa_;
 
 	LColor::color current_color_;
 	Painter::line_style current_ls_;