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Francis Bacon

Fragment of a Crucifixion is a 1950 painting by the Irish-born figurative painter Francis Bacon (portrait shown). Although its title has religious connotations, it reflects Bacon's nihilistic view of the human condition; as an atheist he did not believe in either divine intervention or an afterlife. It shows two animals engaged in an existential struggle, with an upper figure, which may be a dog or a cat, crouching over a chimera and at the point of kill. The predator stoops on the horizontal beam of a T-shaped structure, which may signify Christ's cross. The chimera's despair forms the centrepiece of the work, and in its agony it can be compared to Bacon's later works focusing on the motif of an open mouth. The work contains thinly sketched passers-by, who seem oblivious to the central drama. He abandoned the theme of the crucifixion for the following 12 years, returning to it in the equally bleak triptych Three Studies for a Crucifixion. (Full article...)

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Did you know...

Bockenheimer Depot in 2015

... that the Bockenheimer Depot (pictured) in Frankfurt, built to house trams, is now a theatre which staged the German premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Lost Highway?
... that photographs of the Valle de Guadalupe and Bahía de los Ángeles by Julio Rodríguez appeared in National Geographic magazine?
... that more than 20 million people watched Chronicle during its three-day live coverage of the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982?
... that Denise Mueller-Korenek is the first and only woman to hold the world record for paced bicycle land speed since its establishment in 1899?
... that despite being structurally weakened, it may be beneficial to the porous star coral when the bivalve Lithophaga simplex bores into it?
... that the procession after the 1920 funeral of William G. Blakely reportedly included the longest line of automobiles ever seen at a funeral in Kingman, Arizona?
... that as the Salton Sea dries up, the gryphons are multiplying?

In the news

Yilan train derailment

A passenger train derails (pictured) in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 170 others.
The European and Japanese space agencies launch BepiColombo, two probes intended to study the planet Mercury.
An estimated 700,000 people attend a People's Vote march in London, calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal.

On this day

October 24

George Washington Bridge

1648 – The second treaty of the Peace of Westphalia, the Treaty of Münster, was signed, ending both the Thirty Years' War and the Dutch Revolt, and officially recognizing the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and Swiss Confederation as independent states.
1889 – Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, gave a speech where he called for the federation of the six Australian colonies.
1931 – The George Washington Bridge (pictured), today the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge, connecting New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, was dedicated.
1945 – The UN Charter, the constitution of the United Nations, entered into force after being ratified by the five original permanent members of the Security Council and a majority of the other signatories.
1975 – To protest wage discrepancy and unfair employment practices, 90% of the female population in Iceland went on strike for a day.

William Prynne (d. 1669) · Letitia Woods Brown (b. 1915) · Roman Abramovich (b. 1966)

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Today's featured picture

Jellyfish is an informal term used for members of the Medusozoa subphylum and similar animals such as those in the Ctenophora phylum. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella-shaped bells and trailing tentacles, although a few are not mobile. They move by pulsating the bell. Their tentacles are armed with stinging cells and may be used to capture prey and defend against predators. Jellyfish are found all over the world, from surface waters to the deep sea.

This image shows a labelled cross-section of the flower hat jelly (Olindias formosus).

Illustration: Mariana Ruiz Villarreal.

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