Francis Bacon is considered one of the most important painters of the 20th century. A major exhibition of his paintings at theRoyal Academy of Arts explores the role of animals in his work - not least the human animal.

Having often painted dogs and horses, in 1969 Bacon first depicted bullfights. In this powerful series of works, the interaction between man and beast is dangerous and cruel, but also disturbingly intimate. Both are contorted in their anguished struggle, and the erotic lurks no...