Portrait of Innocent X

Velázquez's Portrait of Innocent X of 1650 is universally acknowledged as one of the greatest portraits in Western art, depicting Pope Innocent X Pamphilj with a psychological intensity that reportedly caused the sitter to complain it was 'too truthful.' The painting was executed during Velázquez's second Italian journey with a freedom of brushwork that anticipated Impressionist technique by two centuries, the brilliant red and white of the papal vestments built from dense, overlapping strokes that dissolve into pure color at close range. Francis Bacon's obsessive engagement with the portrait in his series of screaming popes established its status as a fundamental work of Western painting.

Velázquez renders the papal vestments—the white surplice, red mozzetta and camauro—with extraordinary chromatic richness and fluid brushwork. The relentless observation of the Pope's shrewd, suspicious expression achieves an unprecedented level of psychological realism.