“Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (2nd version)” is a painting by Francis Bacon, created in 1988 and associated with the art movement known as Excessivism. The artwork falls into the genre of sketch and study.
The artwork consists of three panels, each featuring distorted, surreal figures set against a stark, blood-red background. The left panel depicts a figure with its head down, leaning forward with a shroud-like appendage draped over it. In the central panel, a grotesque figure, seemingly armless, perches on a stool, its face contorted in a scream or grimace. The right panel shows a figure hunched over, its elongated neck and head bent sideways, further enhancing the eerie, unsettling atmosphere of the composition. The use of muted, somber colors and the abstract, almost phantasmal quality of the figures evokes a sense of despair and torment, characteristic of Bacon’s exploration of human suffering and existential dread.