Bacon inspired by 'gruesome medical images'
Dr Margarita Cappock, head of the permanent collection at Dublin's Hugh Lane Gallery, said textbooks on skin disorders, forensic pathology, surgery and X-ray techniques were behind some of the eccentric's most eye-catching paintings.
"He was very interested in medical imagery," said Dr Cappock, who has just penned a book, Francis Bacon's Studio, on the rebuilding of the artist's painting den in the Dublin city gallery.