Study after Velazquez Portrait of Pope Innocent X
ArtistFrancis Bacon
Year1953
MediumOil on canvas
LocationDes Moines Art Center
About Study after Velazquez Portrait of Pope Innocent X
Bacon screamed at Velazquezs original in Rome. He painted about 45 versions of the screaming pope. The mouth is based on a still from Eisensteins Battleship Potemkin. The gold throne becomes a cage of vertical lines. The scream is existential, not physical.