Head VI is an oil @-@ on @-@ canvas painting by the Irish @-@ born English figurative artist Francis Bacon , the last of six panels making up his " 1949 Head " series . It shows a bust view of a single figure , modeled on Diego Velázquez 's Portrait of Innocent X. Bacon applies forceful , expressive brush strokes , and places the figure within a glass cage structure , behind curtain @-@ like drapery . This gives the effect of a man trapped and suffocated by his surroundings , screaming into an airless void .