Shop art print and framed art Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Vélasquez

The Portrait of Innocent X is a painting in oil on canvas by Diego Velázquez in the summer of 1650, depicting Pope Innocent X and exhibited in the Galleria Doria-Pamphilj in Rome. The work was produced during Velázquez's second trip to Italy, between the beginning of 1649 and the middle of 1651. Velázquez took Juan de Pareja, his assistant and slave, on the trip. Palomino explains that while he was in Rome, "once he was determined to paint the Supreme Pontiff, he wanted to practise by painting a natural head"; he painted the head of Juan de Pareja, his slave and spiritual painter". This portrait of Juan de Pareja, which was only a preparatory work, was exhibited in Rome and admired on 19 March 1650 on the occasion of the feast of Saint Joseph in the Pantheon". All the documentation indicates that the Pope patiently posed for Velázquez in August 1650; they had met in 1625 during a trip to Madrid when the future Innocent X was Apostolic Nuncio there. The painting is signed on paper held in the pontiff's hand, reading "Alla santa di Nro Sigre / Innocencio Xº / Per / Diego de Silva / Velázquez dela Ca / mera di S. Mte Cattca" (To the Holiness of Our Lord Innocent X, by Diego de Silva Velázquez ...). At the same time as this painting, Velázquez painted smaller portraits of people close to Innocent X, including his barber, but none of them are dated, so they could be later than the portrait of the Pope. Two of these portraits are preserved, one by the Hispanic Society in New York, [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the baroque style.

 

« Portrait of Pope Innocent X » is kept at Galerie Doria-Pamphilj, Rome, Italie.

 

Find the full description of Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Vélasquez on Wikipedia.