When you mention Francis Bacon, clarification is often necessary: are you referring to the 20th-century painter or the 17th-century philosopher? Despite the centuries that separated their lives, these two remarkable figures share intriguing connections that extend beyond their shared name. The artist's father claimed descent from the Elizabethan intellectual's half-brother, though this genealogical link remains unverified.
What is better documented is how the modern Francis Bacon forged an artistic connection to the earlier era through his haunting reinterpretations of Diego Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X. These works, known as his "screaming popes," represent some of the most psychologically disturbing paintings in modern art history. As art historian Tommie Trelawny of Hochelaga explains, no image captured Bacon's imagination more powerfully than Velázquez's depiction of Pope Innocent X, widely considered one of the finest works in Western art.
Bacon's 1953 version, created after he had firmly established himself in the English art scene, presents a terrifying and nightmarish inversion of the original masterpiece. In Bacon's interpretation, the Pope appears to scream as if being electrocuted while seated on his golden throne. Violent, aggressive brushstrokes sweep across the canvas like prison bars, systematically stripping away all sense of papal grandeur and dignity, leaving only raw brutality and unbearable anguish.
This harrowing image emerged as a natural convergence of existing themes in Bacon's artistic work, which had already drawn extensively from the rich history of Christian art while featuring a recurring cast of anguished, psychologically isolated figures. The painting's composition and emotional intensity reflected the artist's ongoing exploration of human suffering and existential despair.
Unsurprisingly, Bacon's Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X sparked intense controversy and debate throughout the art world. Critics, religious leaders, and art enthusiasts offered numerous interpretations of the work's supposed anti-religious or blasphemous implications. However, the artist himself consistently denied all such interpretations, maintaining that his decision to recreate this papal portrait was purely an aesthetic choice—art created for art's sake, without deeper symbolic meaning.
Despite his public denials, Bacon's fascination with the subject proved enduring and obsessive. He followed his initial screaming pope with approximately 50 additional variations on the theme, each painting embodying different facets of human darkness, psychological torment, and spiritual anguish. These works collectively form one of the most powerful and disturbing series in modern art history.
These papal paintings, along with the many other works Bacon created prolifically until his death in 1992, appear to reflect his own deeply troubled soul and perpetually disordered personal life. The artist struggled with alcoholism, difficult relationships, and a generally chaotic lifestyle that seemed to fuel his artistic vision.
Interestingly, Bacon's artistic style evolved considerably over the decades, gradually becoming somewhat softer and less aggressively disturbing in its visual impact. This stylistic evolution suggests that his personal demons may have retreated, at least partially, as he matured as both an artist and an individual. However, art critics continue to debate whether anyone capable of creating the screaming popes could ever truly lose touch with the psychological abyss that inspired such powerful and haunting imagery.
