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Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X
by Francis Bacon, 1953
Artwork Details
Details
- Year
- 1953
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 153 cm × 118 cm
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Francis Bacon transformed Velázquez's serene portrait of Pope Innocent X into a screaming nightmare. The pope appears trapped behind vertical lines suggesting a cage or throne, his mouth open in a silent howl. Purple and black envelop the distorted figure.
Bacon never saw the original Velázquez in person, working only from reproductions. He painted over 50 variations on the screaming pope theme between 1949 and 1971. The image channels postwar existential anguish through art historical quotation. The contrast between the pope's authority and his apparent terror creates visceral unease.
It hangs at the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa.
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About Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X
It hangs at the Des Moines Art Center in Iowa. Other versions of Bacon's screaming popes are in various collections. This oil on canvas work is part of their permanent collection.
No, Bacon never saw the original in Rome. He worked entirely from reproductions and refused to visit it. This oil on canvas work is part of their permanent collection.
Bacon created over 50 variations on this theme between 1949 and 1971. It became his signature subject This work dates to 1953.
The scream expresses existential horror. Bacon channeled postwar anxiety into this image of authority in anguish. This oil on canvas work dates to 1953.
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