Figure with Meat (1954)

This painting is very much like the paintin of Pope Innocent which was also from 1954. He again uses dark colors but along with darker colors he uses meat hanging in the background which according to artic.edu, "he replaced the noble drapery framing the central figure with two sides of beef, directly quoting Rembrandt van Rijn and Chaim Soutine’s haunting images of raw meat. By linking the pope with these carcasses, Bacon allowed the viewer to interpret the pope alternately as a depraved butcher, or as a victim like the slaughtered animal hanging behind him." I agree that he leaves it up to the viewer to figure out the meaning of the painting itself. It's also post World War II so there very well may be a connection. A more amusing fact about this painting is that it was in a scene in Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. In which Jack Nicholson's character the joker says, "I kinda like this one, Bob. Leave it." Which is rather..perfect for that movie in general. This picture once again shows us that he is pulling from art history to creat another piece of art.




cited:
-http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/4884

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_with_Meat (image)