papal statesconcept:movement baroque
Portrait of Innocent X
Oil on canvas by Diego Velázquez, 1650. Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome. Depicts Pope Innocent X (Giovanni Battista Pamphilj) in red and white papal vestments. Widely regarded as one of the greatest portraits in the history of painting; source for Francis Bacon's 'screaming popes' series.
Notes
- ·Painted during Velázquez's second Italian journey (1649-1651), while he was in Rome purchasing art for Philip IV's collection.
- ·Innocent X reportedly said of the portrait: 'Too true!' (Troppo vero) — that it was uncomfortably candid in its psychological penetration.
- ·The portrait shows Innocent X with an expression described variously as shrewd, suspicious, commanding, and uncomfortably direct.
- ·Francis Bacon made a celebrated series of paintings (1949-1971) derived from this portrait, inserting a screaming open mouth into the papal figure — one of the most influential exchanges between two painters across centuries.
- ·Joshua Reynolds called it the finest portrait he had ever seen.
- ·Preparatory study: the portrait of the slave and attendant Juan de Pareja (now Metropolitan Museum) was painted first, as Velázquez practiced his technique in Rome before attempting the Pope.