The infamous nuclear "Madonna" of Salvador Dali, blessed by the Pope himself

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Dali's surrealism was an integral part of his being, and seeing no boundaries in anything, he wrote love, and the sexual revolution, and people and animals, sometimes merging them in a grotesque manner into one whole. And the Second World War introduced new adjustments to the worldview. Salvador Dali … He turned to religion, becoming a devout Catholic. The great surrealist begins to write canvases on religious subjects, to illustrate the Holy Scriptures.

Realizing that it will be difficult to convince the whole world of his religiosity, Dali is trying to create a highly spiritual work, relying in his plot on the creations of Renaissance artists. And the paints themselves used to paint the canvas were prepared according to traditional recipes of the 15th century. The prototype of his composition Dali took the plot of the painting by the artist of that era Piero della Francesca "Madonna with the Saints and the Duke of Urbino".

"Madonna of Port Lligata" (1949) - first version

"Madonna of Port Lligata" is one of the most scandalous paintings by Salvador Dali, where the artist synthesized mysticism and Christian motives in a fantastically bizarre way into a single whole. With his work, Dali apparently wanted to convince admirers of his talent and critics of his sincere return to faith. This did not at all convince the latter, who came up with a name for the new style of the artist - "nuclear mysticism", that is - far from faith.

But then something unexpected happened: Pope Pius XII in 1949 blessed this painting, and as a sign of respect, Dali presented him with his creation. Apparently, this step was associated with the crisis of church power in the post-war period, and in order to show that Catholicism is an open and progressive religion.

The Pope did not even embarrass the fact that the image of the Mother of God was painted from Gala Dali, whose whole life consisted of many scandalous stories and hoaxes.

This work, filled with traditional Christian symbols and allegories, can be "read" with the Freudian key.

The Madonna on the canvas, which has a portrait resemblance to Gala, symbolizes the fusion of the artist's mother and wife into a single whole. Thus, Dali seems to resurrect his mother, who died of cancer at the age of 47, through the image of Gala. The split brow is an unfinished process of Dali's transition to a new psychological state. And the hands symbolize a protective gesture.

The Christ Child is Dali himself, who never tired of emphasizing his "divinity" throughout his life. He is depicted as if in the womb of the Madonna, which is a manifestation of the unity of mother and child. "Windows" in whose bodies symbolize reincarnation into another reality, where mother and son are linked by new bonds.

The shell and the egg are a clear allusion to the images of God the Father and the Holy Spirit, traditional in Christian iconography. The canvas depicts many more objects that are symbols of love, fidelity, vitality, femininity, and ongoing changes.

On the whole, the Madonna in the picture appears to the viewer disrupted and vicious, she is identified with the ideal in the spirit of Renaissance art, and with the fatal and free woman of the 20th century.

There are some reasonable assumptions that Dali had sexual dysfunctions, so he could not have children. And preferring to remain silent about his problems, he used Gala's love affairs as part of his image. Such is the "nuclear mysticism" and faith and pain of Salvador Dali.

"Madonna of Port Lligata" (1950) - the second version

Port Lligat

The name of the canvas corresponds to a certain geographical area, quite recognizable. Port Lligat is a tiny village on the Costa Brava, where the Dalís rented a fishing hut on the coast back in 1929.

Over time, they were able to redeem this dwelling and turn it into a family nest filled with many "Dalian" attributes: "a phallic pool, a stuffed bear that served as a lamp, eggs on the roof ridge" and other surreal gizmos.

Today, the Dali house-museum is located here, which is a place of pilgrimage for the Daliphils.

Madonnas of Salvador Dali, painted over the years

In fairness, it should be noted that Salvador Dali turned to the image of the Mother of God in the future. But the divine image already had a different character and new ideas.

Illustrations by Salvador Dali for Scripture

And here is another little-known fact from the work of the great surrealist, who throughout his entire career demonstrated inexhaustible imagination in all forms.

In 1967, a unique version of the Bible with illustrations by Salvador Dali in the style of abstract expressionism was first replicated in Italy. It was published with the blessing of the Pope, who was one of the first to receive as a gift this extraordinary edition of the Holy Scriptures bound in white leather and gold.

This artistic project involved a detailed and in-depth study of the text of the Bible, "spiritual penetration not only into the storyline, but also the hidden meaning and truth of the words of the Great Book." And the artist passed the biblical subjects through his consciousness, with his characteristic expressiveness and expressiveness.

Salvador Dali was a unique artist. His life and work were eccentric to such an extent that they made him more of a mythological character in art history than a real figure.

And his beloved Gala (Elena Dyakonova) - Russian muse of Salvador Dali was for him a muse and a curse, a manager and a tyrant, a wife and a wild passion of all life.