During a visit to Chicago, I had the opportunity to see Figure with Meat by Francis Bacon on display at the Art Institute. Standing before it, I felt an immediate sense of unease, a feeling Bacon no doubt intended to evoke. The painting presents a distorted, tormented figure of a pope flanked by two massive slabs of hanging meat, a visceral scene that brings together themes of authority, mortality, and human vulnerability. This work, like much of Bacon’s art, forces the viewer to confront the raw, unsettling aspects of existence.
In that moment, I found myself echoing a familiar line from Tim Burton’s Batman (1989). Like the Joker, who pauses in front of Figure with Meat during his art-defacing spree and remarks, “I kind of like this one,” I, too, found myself oddly drawn to the painting. Despite—or perhaps because of—its disturbing subject matter, Figure with Meat resonates in a way that is both unsettling and compelling. It confronts viewers with the raw truth of human frailty and the brutal reality that even figures of immense power are bound to the same fate as the flesh surrounding them.
Bacon’s reference to Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X becomes distorted and subverted in Figure with Meat, transforming the figure of the pope into one of despair. The pope, typically a figure of reverence and authority, is reduced to a screaming figure, trapped within the confines of Bacon’s dark vision. The slabs of meat hanging behind him—a direct reference to Rembrandt’s Slaughtered Ox—serve as a stark reminder of mortality. Like Rembrandt’s work, the visceral depiction of raw flesh emphasizes the inevitability of decay, highlighting the primal reality that lies beneath all human power and authority.
The pope’s anguished, blurred face, frozen in a silent scream, symbolizes a universal experience of existential suffering. The carcasses behind him create a cage-like effect, underscoring his entrapment and amplifying the themes of despair and isolation. Bacon’s nihilistic perspective is evident here, reducing the pope—a symbol of divine authority—to mere flesh and bone, as vulnerable as the meat around him. His work challenges the notion of power, suggesting that all human constructs are ultimately powerless against mortality.
For Bacon, Figure with Meat is both a homage and a critique. It acknowledges the artistic traditions of Velázquez and Rembrandt, but it also reflects Bacon’s darker, more existential perspective on the human condition. By positioning the pope between slabs of meat, Bacon draws attention to the fragility and transience of life, stripping away illusions of power and confronting the viewer with the brutal truth of our shared vulnerability.