Compared with his contemporaries, Bacon had a somewhat complicated relationship with printmaking. All of his etchings and lithographs are graphic transcriptions of his existing oil paintings, although some images were altered and edited during the process. This etching is based upon the painting of the same title that Bacon completed in 1976.

Bacon worked with a variety of master printers, but he held the expertise of Georges Visat in particularly high esteem. Visat was taught the principles of intaglio printmaking while he was still a child, and became much sought-after for his extraordinary skill. He worked extensively with Braque, Ernst, Giacometti and Magritte, founding his own publishing house in 1961. He and Bacon produced three etchings together, widely regarded as some of the finest in his entire graphic oeuvre.

It was produced to accompany the chapter Francis Bacon ou les ultimes convulsions de l'humanité in the portfolio Requiem pour la fin des temps (Requiem for the End of Time). The portfolio contained two prints each by Bacon, Henry Moore, Roberto Matta and Ma Chair Rie. It also featured texts contributed by Bacon's friend Eddy Batache.

Michel Leiris was an anthropologist, surrealist writer and poet, and for much of the twentieth century a linchpin of the French avant-garde. He was also a friend of Picasso. Bacon would often meet with Leiris on his visits to Paris, and the two became great friends. Leiris was a profound influence on Bacon's thinking, and he would later produce a monograph on the artist's work. Bacon painted two portraits of Leiris, in 1976 and 1978.

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