What Salvador Dali’s Art Can Teach Us About Jesus
What may seem confusing at first might actually keep you captivated by the character of Christ.
Dali is quite an interesting figure in history. He is considered on of the greatest artists for “Surrealism”, an art movement defined by trying to capture the subconscious of humanity onto the canvas. Later in life he went from being a staunch atheist to returning to his Roman Catholic roots. From this spouted many great and fascinating pieces centered around Christianity.
Here are three of them, along with some reflections I’ve gathered from viewing.
1. Christ is transcendent.
This fascinating piece is Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus), finished in 1954. Obviously, by just looking at this there are many different things to consider. We see Mary, modeled after Dali’s wife, gazing up at Jesus on a platform positioned above a checkerboard floor with a backdrop of Port Lligat, where Dali lived for many decades. Interestingly enough, Christ is presented with no scars, though scripture does say He had scars after His resurrection (John 20:26–28).
We also see this mathematically designed hypercube, or tesseract, replacing the traditional wooden cross Jesus is normally depicted as being nailed to. Reportedly, this inclusion of the geometrical objects with the crucifixion was Dali’s way of expressing that science and faith are able to co-exist.
This also ties to the message that Christ is transcendent, since science is the study of His creation (John 1:1–3). According to GotQuestions Ministries, the definition of transcendent means “to exist above and independent from; to rise above, surpass, succeed.” This painting reflects that definition.
This being lifted up is a reflection of how His death and resurrection was an act of success, made on His own volition and independence. He didn’t depend on anything to force His journey to the cross; He is above all things, therefore He submitted in active and passive obedience in order to grant us the ability to rise above into the gift of eternal life (Phil. 2:5–11). Even now in the achievement of His exalted state, He is currently interceding for us (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25–26).
From eternity past and into the future always, Jesus is above all things (Ephesians 1:18–23, Colossians 1:15–20). Do you believe this?
2. Christ cares for us through His work of reconciliation.
This masterpiece is titled Christ of Saint John of The Cross (1951). The title derives from a 16th century mystic of the same name, who made a piece of artwork depicting Christ from the same angle. This scene shows Christ on the cross, clean and without any nails, looking over some fishermen on Port Lligat. The scene reminds you of the Sea of Galilee, and how Jesus was so carefully involved with the lives of His disciples, of whom most fished by trade.
This is one of my favorite paintings of all time and it speaks volumes to me. One, because of how Jesus’ gaze while on the cross is set over the sea in this picture. It paints a picture in my mind of how His work of reconciliation affects our very being. Indeed, “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28a).
How does it affect us? Simply put, Jesus’ work shows how much He wants to be involved in our life. Not that He needs our permission — He quite literally created us and is currently sustaining us (Hebrews 1:3). I am saying that He wants communion with us. By the riches of His mercy, He provided a way for eternal communion, spotted in the heavenly places with Him, through Jesus’ work (Ephesians 2:4–10).
This affects our being because we are unworthy of such kindness. We all have gone astray to our own sins (Romans 3:10–12). Like how Israel turned away from God constantly, even when God was leading them through the wilderness. His patience and loving-kindness endured with them for years and years.
Consider Hosea 11. Despite God’s recognition that Israel is determined to keep running from Him (v. 7), He still shows His love for them as His child (v. 1). He goes on to proclaim in verse 8:
How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
…
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
This is God’s heart for you. Christ’s work of reconciliation has cleared our canvas of sin and allowed the workmanship of His love to transform you. We find our true being in communion with our Father.
3. The New Covenant is our only chance for holiness.
The last painting I’m mentioning is The Sacrament of The Last Supper (1955). Again, we see his hometown of Port Lligat displayed in the background while Jesus and the twelve disciples are gathered around the table. Unlike other common depictions of this famous scene, this one has the twelve bowed in reverence while Christ has His head lifted upwards. A translucent appearance of Jesus’ torso laid out as if on the cross rests above the scene.
Simply put, I think this represents a beautiful scene of the New Covenant being brought about. Jesus fulfilled the Law for us (Matthew 5:16–17), and by belief in Him we have the Law written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31–34). Moses rightly predicted about Israel, in that they would fall short within the Old Covenant (Deut. 29:22–28). Yet, in the New Covenant, we now have right standing with God, and forgiveness can be found at all times when we miss the mark in our sinful ways by the once-and-for-all sacrifice (Romans 3:20–26).
The pristine aesthetic of the scene presents how Christ deserves our reverence always, and how we should live clean lives before Him. The New Covenant is what brings about holy living and transformed hearts (Ezekiel 36:26–27, Philippians 2:12–13, 2 Corinthians 4:6). Our transcendent God has cared for us so deeply, that He transcended down to us in order to set us free from our sin by the working of the New Covenant (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 7:22).
The Big Picture
Art is not always an accurate reflection of how reality is. Dali wasn’t perfect and has missed the mark much like we have. But in it, there is always a piece of reality to be found that reflects our great Creator. I pray that these same reflections may inspire you to go see how God has left His fingerprint in all of creation. Why not tell someone how Christ has transformed you into God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10)?