Baroque · 17th century

Portrait of Innocent X

Portrait of Innocent X (17th century) by Diego Velázquez. Its palette is led by dark sienna (#4f2424, 31%) and very dark sienna (#331a1c, 23%), with accents of stone, crimson and scarlet red. Overall the canvas is mid-toned, moderately saturated and warm.

Color note

Velázquez worked from a restrained palette of earth colors, lead white, vermilion and blacks, and was admired for his silvery greys. Manet, who studied him in Madrid, called him the painter of painters.

Palette

#4f2424 MG 145 dark sienna 31.0% of canvas
#331a1c MG 146 very dark sienna 23.2% of canvas
#8e9c8a MG 173 putty 12.7% of canvas
#b5bfa7 MG 053 pale muted green 12.6% of canvas
#616350 MG 175 stone 7.6% of canvas
#8b373c MG 007 crimson 7.2% of canvas
#a8635e MG 016 scarlet red 5.7% of canvas

Color families

Brown 56%, Red 15%, Green 12%, Gray 9%, Black 7%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.45
Contrast: 0.56
Vividness: 0.044
Warmth: +0.98
Complexity: 148 cells
Hue range: 0.48
Focus: 0.20

Composition

51% of the visual weight is in the left half, 67% in the lower half. Symmetry 0.32 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 40% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 28% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 17th century
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 141.0 × 119.0 cm
Genre: portrait
Collection: Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome

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