The painting Head Surrounded by Sides of Beef features one of Bacon’s infamous Screaming Popes. This masterpiece explores many dualities, especially Bacon’s obsession with horror. Here he plays with the two sides of terror; power and vulnerability. The Pope holds tremendous power. But he’s also trapped in the role. That makes him vulnerable.

Bacon’s sides of beef hover above this Pope in what looks a lot like a cage. A thick black arrow points to the Pope’s head, in case we missed “Head” in the title. Head Surrounded by Sides of Beef doesn’t refer to a Pope. It speaks only of a “Head”. The Pope is the Head of his people and the state, even the world in some historical periods. Still, Bacon shows us here that this powerful position doesn’t make a man happy. There’s tremendous tension built into this canvas to help us see this.

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