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The image of authoritarian figures and leaders inspired many of Francis Bacon’s paintings. Among these, his interpretation of the Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1650) by Velázquez represents an exemplary way of revealing the complex dilemmas incorporated within a leader. However, whereas in Velázquez’s portrait the Pope appeared regal, serene and inquisitive, Bacon’s Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X (1953) seems to explore the isolation conferred by his authority. The obsession of Bacon with this painting may suggest a wider challenge to contemporary organizational mythology — top managers, businessmen, politicians, CEOs, bankers, etc. — experiencing a sort of leadership crisis, in a moment when their public image is being questioned and their social status threatened. Is it, then, possible to visualize how our contemporary images of power may become transfigured, challenged and contorted? The dialogue between these two representations of Innocent X inspires questions about the representation and re-interpretation of authority and leadership and it aims at responding the question of What do images of leaders as depicted by portraiture contribute to our understanding of leading and leadership? This paper follows the analytical framework proposed by Guthey and Jackson (2005, 2008) concerning a ‘visual genealogy’ (Schroeder and Zwick, 2004) of images of leaders. The notion of establishing a ‘genealogy’ of representations of leadership draws upon the work of Michel Foucault, concerning the ways through which Western culture creates subjects and, most specifically, how images of leadership are created through portraiture and art. The interest in the Pope acknowledges the significance of his figure as leader of the Catholic Church, one of the most important institutions in European history; here, however, the intention is to establish a dialogue between Bacon’s view on leadership in the figure of Innocent X, on the one hand, and on the other the original portrait by Velázquez, both seen in the context of contemporary discussions about leadership and charisma. Here, portraiture is approached as an aesthetic expression that can be used as a means of enquiring into certain aspects of leadership (Taylor and Hansen, 2005). Both perceptions coincided in their interpretation of leadership as focused on the charismatic individual; yet each of these two representations evidences a rupture, a questioning of this view. Velázquez, in a troppo vero (too real) depiction of the Pope, shows an efficient and cruel leader while offering his personal interpretation of the politics of his time. Bacon’s interpretation goes further, by representing a powerful yet isolated leader, whose excessive individuality has produced a cage in which he remains trapped. Separated from his subjects, this view resembles the excessive attention that the individual is given when understanding leadership and its potential problems. This paper adds to the exploration of aesthetic expressions as a means of enquiring into organizational and social issues, for example, the case of leadership. It evidences the potentialities of considering specific artistic expressions, such as portraiture, as heuristic devices towards understanding some of the processes through which leadership is socially constructed, and the mechanisms promoting one notion or another of leadership in different historical periods.

This paper contributes to critical voices on the issue of organisational responses to employee drug use. It does so by exploring symbolic readings of organisations' relations with drugs and drug-taking. Our focus is recent coverage of, and organisational responses to, the UK tabloid media's exposé of fashion supermodel Kate Moss's alleged cocaine use. We consider that the celebrity endorsement in this particular case highlights the ambiguities created by the symbolic associations between the organisation and the 'image' projected by the celebrity. Overall, we use this case to explore symbolic relationships between drugs, sex, femininity and organisation. Through highlighting these connections, we question further the rationality of organisational responses to employee drug use and, utilising Derrida's (1981) extension of Plato's notion of the pharmakon, consider whether workforce drug testing might be fruitfully seen as a symbolic mechanism for scapegoating and sacrifice in order to protect the organisation's (masculine) moral order. IntroductionThis paper engages with the issue of managerial responses to workforce drug use. We are concerned in particular to extend existing readings of the symbolic roots of managerial interventions and prohibitions in this area. Our work draws out the connections, conflations and contradictions between organisational constructions of the meanings of drugs and the symbolism of female sexuality. The case of Kate Moss's dismissal by Swedish retailer H&M following the UK tabloid media's exposé of the fashion supermodel's alleged cocaine use is analysed here as a magnified illustration of some of the organisational attitudes toward drug use. We consider that the celebrity endorsement in this particular case highlights the ambiguities created by the symbolic associations between the organisation and the 'image' projected by the celebrity.We are using the concept of 'symbolism' in two related ways here. The first refers to the reading of social (organisational) practices as indicative of organisational values and/or a desired projection of corporate identity. As we note above and discuss further below in relation to workforce drugs-testing regimes, we suggest it may be instructive not to take such practices at face value, but instead to question what their social signifying function might be or, as Barthes (2000, 111) puts it, to ' … define and

Audio description (AD) has been introduced as one solution for providing people who are blind or have low vision with access to live theatre, film and television content. However, there is little research to inform the process, user preferences and presentation style. We present a study of a single live audio-described performance of Hart House Theatre’s production of Hamlet in Toronto, Ontario. Unlike conventional description, the AD was designed in cooperation with the creative team to fit with the production’s style. The AD was written using the language and rhythmic structure (iambic pentameter) that mimicked that of Shakespeare and was delivered from Horatio’s point of view. Audience reactions to the production and AD were generally positive, with people reporting that they were entertained by the play and the AD.