Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X
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| Artist | Francis Bacon |
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| Year | 1953 |
| Type | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 153 cm × 118 cm (60 in × 46 in) |
| Location | Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa |
Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X is a 1953 painting by the Irish-born artist Francis Bacon. The work shows a distorted version of the Portrait of Innocent X painted by the Spanish artist Diego Velázquez in 1650.
[edit] Painting
The work is one of a series of variants of the Velázquez painting which Bacon executed throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, over a total of forty-five works.[1] When asked why he was compelled to revisit the subject so often, Bacon replied that he had nothing against the Popes, that he merely "wanted an excuse to use these colours, and you can't give ordinary clothes that purple colour without getting into a sort of false fauve manner."[2] Conversely, in many discussions of the painting Bacon disparaged Christianity, calling it an "anodyne" or saying that "governments use religion to control the people".[3]
In Bacon's version of Velázquez's masterpiece, the Pope's is shown screaming, yet his voice is silenced by the surrounding drapes and dark, rich colors. The dark colors of the background lend a grotesque and nightmarish tone to the painting.[4] The pleated curtains of the backdrop are rendered transparent, and appear to fall through the representation of the Pope's face.[5]
[edit] Notes
[edit] Printed sources
- Davis, Hugh & Yard, Sally. "Francis Bacon". (New York) Cross River Press, 1986. ISBN 0-8965-9447-8
- Peppiatt, Michael. Anatomy of an Enigma. Westview Press, 1996. ISBN 0-8133-3520-5
- Schmied, Wieland. Francis Bacon: Commitment and Conflict. Munich: Prestel, 1996. ISBN 3-7913-1664-8
