The painter Francis Bacon created some of the most fascinating and disturbing paintings of the twentieth century. His work, which at first glance appears as an entirely private cosmos of thought, drew on an abundance of sources: paintings from Velázquez to Picasso, medical reference books, film stills, photographs. He brought reality into his secluded studio in the form of reproductions and appropriated it; even his portraits were made from photographs taken specially for him. This book describes for the first time Bacon’s paths to the image, showing in detail the influence of art history on his work and illustrating the often complex creative processes.