Portrait of Pope Innocent X (Pamphilj)

Galleria Doria Pamphilj - Rome

Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez

"This is the most important work in the collection, and is a masterpiece of 17th century portraiture. It portrays Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, Pope from 1644 to 1655, without attempting to hide his ugliness, “that satirical saturnine, coarse and hideous aspect”, which made his contemporaries and above all his enemies suspect that he had a “contumacious spirit”. Velázquez probably painted this between the end of 1649 and January of 1650. It was painted during a moment of great change in international politics: after the peace of Westphalia (1648) the papacy moved its alliances once more towards Habsburg Spain, dropping the pro-French line. An old English guidebook gives it as
Reynold’s authoritative opinion that this is 'the finest picture in Rome.'"

www.doriapamphilj.it/roma/en/i-capolavori-doria-pamphilj/diego-rodriguez-de-silva-y-velazquez

AIMG 8951