Portrait of Innocent X
| Portrait of Innocent X | |
|---|---|
| Retrato de Inocencio X (Spanish) | |
 | |
| Artist | Diego Velázquez |
| Year | c. 1650 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Subject | Pope Innocent X |
| Dimensions | 141 cm × 119 cm (56 in × 47 in) |
| Location | |
Portrait of Innocent X is a c. 1650 oil on canvas painting by Spanish artist Diego Velázquez, depicting Pope Innocent X, head of the Catholic Church from 1644 to 1655. Many artists and art critics consider it the finest portrait ever created. It is housed in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome. A smaller version is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, and a study is on display at Apsley House in London.
The painting is noted for its realism as an unflinching portrait of a highly intelligent, shrewd, and aging man. He is dressed in linen vestments, and the quality of the work is evident in the rich reds of his upper clothing, head-dress, and the hanging curtains.
The painting was created during a trip by Velázquez to Italy. The pope, born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, was initially wary of sitting for Velázquez, but relented after he was shown reproductions of portraits by the artist. A contributing factor for this large advancement in the painter's career was that he had already depicted a number of members of Pamphilj's inner court. The pope, however, remained cautious, and the painting was initially displayed only to his immediate family, and was largely lost from public view through the 17th and 18th centuries.
Irish-British artist Francis Bacon notably used Velázquez's portrait as a reference for dozens of paintings from 1949 to 1971. In most of them, the pope is screaming or has a distorted appearance. These works most famously include Head VI (1949) and Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953).