What Velázquez Saw in the Pope's Eyes

When he saw this painting, the story goes, the most powerful man in Rome said two words: troppo vero. Too true. So let's read his face the way a profiler reads a suspect. Diego Velázquez painted Pope Innocent X in 1650. We read five clues one at a time — the eyes, the mouth, the hands, the posture, the colours — then check the profile against history: a court of intrigue, Olimpia Maidalchini, Juan de Pareja, the signature hidden in the Pope's letter, and Francis Bacon's obsession. 00:00 Too true 00:44 Clue 1: the eyes 01:22 Clue 2: the mouth 02:02 Clue 3: the hands 02:30 Clue 4: the posture 02:58 Clue 5: the colours 03:44 The facts 04:39 The painter 06:25 Francis Bacon 06:57 Who's profiling whom Painting: Diego Velázquez, Portrait of Innocent X (1650), Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome. Public domain. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Francis Bacon's paintings are described, not shown. Music: "Cave 1", "Cave 5", "Cave 4" by HoliznaCC0 (CC0). End title: Modest Mussorgsky, "Night on Bald Mountain" — public-domain recording via Wikimedia Commons. #velazquez #innocentx #arthistory #hiddendetails #rome