Pope Innocent X

Pope Innocent X, born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, led the Catholic Church from 1644 to 1655. His pontificate was marked by conflict with Catholic powers and a forceful reassertion of papal authority.

Diego Velázquez: Spanish painter whose works include portraits, religious paintings, and scenes of court life. Velázquez painted Innocent X during his second visit to Rome.
Portrait of Innocent X: A portrait of Pope Innocent X painted by Diego Velázquez in Rome in 1650. This celebrated likeness is the direct artistic record of Velázquez’s encounter with the pope.
Papal authority: The powers and claims exercised by the pope in religious and temporal affairs. Innocent X’s reign tested papal claims against the independence of European rulers.
Francis Bacon: Irish-born painter known for distorted figurative images and psychologically charged portraits. Bacon’s Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X radically reworks the original image.
Olimpia Maidalchini: Roman noblewoman and sister-in-law of Innocent X, influential in papal court affairs. Her political influence at Innocent X’s court became a defining feature of his pontificate.
Cum occasione: A 1653 papal constitution condemning five propositions attributed to Cornelius Jansen. Innocent X issued this decree, intensifying the dispute over Jansenist theology.
Thirty Years' War: A series of conflicts in central Europe from 1618 to 1648 involving religious and dynastic rivalries. The war’s settlement constrained the influence Innocent X sought to defend.
Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X: A series of paintings by Francis Bacon that reinterpret Velázquez’s portrait of Innocent X. Bacon turns the composed papal likeness into an image of isolation and anguish.
Pope Urban VIII: Pope from 1623 to 1644, born Maffeo Barberini. Innocent X succeeded Urban VIII and challenged the Barberini family’s influence.
Peace of Westphalia: The 1648 settlement that ended the Thirty Years’ War and reshaped political authority in Europe. Innocent X rejected the treaty’s provisions affecting Catholic interests.

Linked from 8 pages