Figure with Meat
Encyclopedia
Figure with Meat is a 1954 painting by the Irish born artist Francis Bacon
. The figure is based on the Pope Innocent X
portrait by Diego Velázquez
; however, in the Bacon painting the Pope is shown as a tragic figure and placed between two bisected halves of a cow. The carcass hanging in the background is likely derived from Rembrandt's Carcass of Beef, 1657. The painting is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago
.
According to Mary Louise Schumacher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,
The painting is featured in Tim Burton's
Batman (1989 film)
in a scene where the Joker and his henchmen destroy several works of art. However, the Joker spares Figure with Meat, saying, "I kind of like this one, Bob. Leave it."
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
. The figure is based on the Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X , born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj , was Pope from 1644 to 1655. Born in Rome of a family from Gubbio in Umbria who had come to Rome during the pontificate of Pope Innocent IX, he graduated from the Collegio Romano and followed a conventional cursus honorum, following his uncle...
portrait by Diego Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
; however, in the Bacon painting the Pope is shown as a tragic figure and placed between two bisected halves of a cow. The carcass hanging in the background is likely derived from Rembrandt's Carcass of Beef, 1657. The painting is in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
.
"Bacon appropriated the famous portrait, with its subject, enthroned and draped in satins and lace, his stare stern and full of authority. In Bacon's version, animal carcasses hang at the pope's back, creating a raw and disturbing Crucifixion-like composition. The pope's hands, elegant and poised in Velázquez's version, are rough hewn and gripping the church's seat of authority in apparent terror. His mouth is held in a scream and black striations drip down from the pope's nose to his neck. It's as if Bacon picked up a wide house painting brush and brutishly dragged it over the face. The fresh meat recalls the lavish arrangements of fruits, meats and confections in 17th-century vanitas paintings, which usually carried subtle moralizing messages about the impermanence of life and the spiritual dangers of sensual pleasures. Sometimes, the food itself showed signs of being overripe or spoiled, to make the point. Bacon weds the imagery of salvation, worldly decadence, power and carnal sensuality, and he contrasts those things with his own far more palpable and existential view of damnation".
The painting is featured in Tim Burton's
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
Batman (1989 film)
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
in a scene where the Joker and his henchmen destroy several works of art. However, the Joker spares Figure with Meat, saying, "I kind of like this one, Bob. Leave it."