TRIPTYCH INSPIRED BY THE ORESTEIA OF AESCHYLUS (RIGHT PANEL), 1981

  • Triptych, Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus (Right Panel), 1981, completes one of Francis Bacon’s most monumental explorations of tragedy...
    Triptych Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus, 1981
    Oil on canvas, 198 x 147.5cm 
    ©The Estate of Francis Bacon, Image reproduced for educational purposes only.
    Triptych, Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus (Right Panel), 1981, completes one of Francis Bacon’s most monumental explorations of tragedy and transformation. In this final panel, the scene appears quieter but no less charged. A distorted form, partly human and partly spectral, seems to emerge from or dissolve into the dark maroon background. The sense of stillness is deceptive; beneath it lies the same violence and unease that runs throughout the triptych. Bacon creates an atmosphere of aftermath, as though the chaos and conflict of the previous panels have subsided, leaving behind a haunting residue of guilt and consequence.
     
    The deep, fleshy reds and muted neutrals evoke both flesh and shadow, symbolising the constant push and pull between life and death that defined Bacon’s vision. The right panel acts almost as an epilogue, where the figure appears to exist in a liminal space, not alive, not gone, but suspended between states of being. Through this final image, Bacon captures the tragic inevitability that underpins Aeschylus’s Oresteia: the weight of action, the cost of justice, and the enduring human struggle to escape the cycles of violence and suffering.

  • The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery.

    - Francis Bacon

    At its core, The Oresteia is a story about transformation, not only of individuals but of civilisation itself. It begins in chaos, ruled by vengeance and blood, and ends with the fragile hope of justice and order. Yet even as peace is restored, the sense of unease remains; violence, guilt and fate continue to linger beneath the surface. This ambiguity fascinated Bacon, who saw in Greek tragedy a reflection of modern life: the tension between control and chaos, civilisation and instinct. His Triptych, Inspired by the Oresteia of Aeschylus turns these timeless conflicts into something physical and immediate, translating ancient moral struggle into a vision of raw human experience.