Francis Bacon's Figure With Meat:

--Over the last few days, I have bombarded myself with images from the internet, not knowing exactly what image would be captivating enough to sustain me through the entire semester--this may not have been the best method. As I am sure many of you have noticed, looking at "art" on the internet doesn't quite cut the mustard; Thus, I laid bare one important guideline: I must have seen the work in person. Luckily, this stipulation did not limit my search too much, and I finally decided on this piece by Francis Bacon, which still hangs, I believe, in the Art Institute of Chicago's modern wing. Although I am convinced that this piece is goading in and of itself, I think it is important to note that Bacon was inspired by Valazquez's piece, called, simply, Portrait of Innocent X (this is a translation from the Spanish title). 

--The depiction of the subject is quite grotesque, and the first time I saw this piece, unknown to Bacon's work, it truly shocked me. The meat carcass, nearly effulgent, hangs like a tapestry behind the subject, sitting in a dark room. As an admirer of Goya's work, this form is pretty familiar to me, but, for some unknown reason, this particular work felt totally original. While many artists depict death, this is the first artist that I can remember displaying living death, or decomposition: It is as if the subject's cells are going through putrefaction while still alive; The joints are stiff, denoting rigor mortis; the mouth is open wide, perhaps a stray gadfly would be apropos--agony. The lack of focus seems to suggest movement, or displacement, as if the subject is not one with itself, which raises questions of identity. The viewer must assume that the subject is clerical. That being said, the meat hanging is reminiscent of the passion sequence. Does this make christ merely merely flesh and bone, no more than an animal carcass without divinity? And the figure his judge--Pilate? All of these questions are up to interpretation; regardless, the piece itself is breathtaking. It is impossible to see it from this image, but the canvas is very large. The size itself is startling, as if one could step right through it into hell. This painting awakes the viewer from her somnambulance, and demands to be acknowledged; The work intrigues me most because of this forced interpellation--one cannot soon get this image out of their head.