Not to get off track, but the book looks at Francis Bacon the 20th century painter, not the 16th century philosopher. I once had a confusing conversation with a room full of artists before I realized that we had no idea who the "other" Francis Bacon was.
I would like to imagine what that conversation be like for the "France is Bacon" guy.
If we're talking strictly about artists, he probably means [1] rather than [2].