It's the pressure from the inquisition. He does look a bit pale and gaunt.
I had seen that painting before but I never knew the meaning behind it. Very interesting.
How many Vicars of Christ were totally insane? I find it interesting that in death these popes seem to think they are better than the rest of us rotten souls. Formose's "punishment" was for his "body be stripped of its papal vestments, clad in the cheap garments of a lay person, and buried in a common grave."
Later, when it was decided that his accuser was the lousy pope the church, "Once more clothed [him] in the pontifical vestments, the body was placed before the Confession [the part of the high altar in which sacred relics were placed] of St. Peter's. There, in the presence of Pope Theodore II, a Mass was said for the soul of Formosus, and his poor battered body was restored to its own tomb."
Oh, his "poor battered body"! -- insert crocodile tears.
How many you got?
"Let the courts record that the defendent gives no answer."