 However, Velázquez did not flatter his sitter, and the painting is noted for its realism, in that it is an unflinching portrait of a highly intelligent, shrewd, aging man.Bacon never painted from life, preferring to use a variety of visual source material, including photographs both found (including in movie stills, medical text books and 19th century journals) and commissioned.Equally, Bacon rarely worked from commission, and could portray the pope in an even less flattering light; according to art critic Arim Zweite, "in a sinister manner, in cavernous dungeons, afflicted by an emotional outburst and devoid of any authority".