Pope I - Study after Pope Innocent X by Velazquez
Artist
Francis Bacon
(Dublin, Ireland, 1909 - 1992)
Associated
Pope Innocent X
(Rome, Italy, 1574 - 1655)
Date1951
Mediumoil on canvas
ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings
DimensionsOverall: Height: 197.8 cm, Width: 137.4 cm
Frame: Height: 217.2 cm, Width: 156 cm, Depth: 9 cm
Frame: Height: 217.2 cm, Width: 156 cm, Depth: 9 cm
AcquisitionPresented in 1956 by the Contemporary Art Society.
Copyright© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2021
LocationOn Display - Gallery 18
Object numberABDAG002364
Keywords
'Pope I' was the first painting in a series of three, which formed Bacon's first completed series of popes. Painting images of the head of the Catholic Church became an obsession for Bacon for more than twenty years. The artist drew his inspiration from the portrait of Pope Innocent X painted in 1650 by the Spanish artist, Diego Velazquez. Bacon never actually saw the original painting in Rome, but rather worked from numerous reproductions of the famous image.
More About Me
There are around 50 works in Bacon’s series of Pope paintings. He claimed he had nothing against popes, but merely sought "an excuse to use these colours”. Do you believe him?
Exhibitions
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell
Alexander Davidson Longmuir
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell
Francis Dodd
Sir Francis Seymour Haden
George Francis Miles
Leila Faithfull
Henryk Gotlib
Alfred Elmore