Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)
by Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989)
Painting
Dali was given the Catalan name of Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech, 1st Marques de Dali de Pubol when he was born in Figueres, Spain in 1904. His father was a lawyer and strict disciplinarian whose child-rearing beliefs were tempered by Dali's lifelong hero, his mother. It was she who encouraged Dali's interest in art. She would die when he was sixteen. A highly skilled painter, Dali's legacy is his profound impact on surrealism, often unsettling the viewer with images and symbology in dreamlike compositions. In the above painting, Dali depicts the crucified Christ utilizing the artist's theory of "nuclear mysticism" - a combination of Catholicism, Mathematics and Science. Christ's body bears no signs of his crucifixion, no nails or crown of thorns. He levitates before a cross that's been transformed into a levitating "hypercube". The devotional figure in the foreground is Dali's wife, Gala, who looks up in wonder at Christ's triumph over corporeal harm. The floating figure, vast barren landscape and chessboard are all elements from his earlier surrealist work.
Page created on 8/27/2014 6:50:34 PM
Last edited 8/27/2014 6:50:34 PM