Francis Bacon Painting in a Godless World

Despite his militant atheism, Francis Bacon (1909-1992) exploited the symbols of Christianity, especially the Crucifixion and the Pope, throughout his career. Rina Arya explains how the artist redeployed religious iconography both to show Christianity’s untenability in the modern age and to convey an experience of the human condition, specifically animalism and mortality. Placing the work within the context of post-war philosophical preoccupations with the death of God, this refreshingly original book marks a new approach to appreciating the work of one of the leading artists of the 20th century.