Study After Velázquez, 1953 by Francis Bacon

By Pooja Sijapati

Francis Bacon paints Study After Velázquez, 1953 as one of the series of his Scream painting. Painting is of a portrait of Pope with flushed down, vibrant motion of color and a stunning facial expression. Francis bacon comes about making this painting after the famous movie still form The Battleship Potemkin 1925 by Sergei Eisenstein of the bespectacled women who is bleeding from her eyes and portrait of Pope Innocent X, 1650 by Diego Velázquez. The movie still form The Battleship Potemkin is basically a snapshot of chaos and violence, where as Diego Velázquez’s Pope Innocent X is comparatively peaceful than the movie still.  

Diego Velázquez as a young artist at the time offered himself to paint the Pope to prove his painting skills. The painting of Pope Innocent shows fine brushwork and its glossy texture, an epitome work of art. The background is red but in contrast his red robe is beautiful and velvety. Color red makes Pope look very powerful; he was aged 75 at the time. Remarkable vigor with a great capacity of work and he was also considered to have violent temper. Pope is wearing white; he is seated on a red armchair. With his fleshy cheeks and suspicious eyes starring back at the viewers. Velázquez includes his signature in the paper the pope is holding on his hand.  

As for Francis Bacon his image of the Pope is almost transparent, like a ghost. Lack of hair, head or sense of face, black eyes, and open mouth implies scream, which gives him an undead zombie façade.  Rendered and smeared in deep dark color Pope looks like he came from a horror movie. Pope is not sitting on a majestic red velvety chair neither is he placed in front of a red backdrop. It almost looks like he is planted on electric chair, going though his execution. Several beaming vertical stripes shoots out from the lower half of the body.  These two painting are in contrast with each other, Velázquez makes he pope look powerful majestic and idealized, where as Bacon strips pope down form his power and makes him look helpless.