Hôtel Ré was Bacon’s first official residence when he moved to Monaco in 1946. He lived there from 5 July 1946 to 1947, with his nanny Jessie Lightfoot and Eric Hall, his companion and patron.
© Monte-Carlo SBM
© MB Art Collection
Pope/Dictator, c. 1946
At Hôtel Ré, Bacon painted his first popes, mainly inspired by Velázquez’ Portrait of Pope Innocent X (c.1650), which haunted and obsessed Bacon for years afterwards, leading him to produce over fifty variations on the subject.
I am working on 3 sketches of the Velázquez portrait of Pope Innocent II [sic].
Bacon writing to Graham Sutherland from Hôtel Ré, 19 October 1946