When
disembarking from the steamship America in Le Havre on March 27,
1953, on his return from New York, Dalí announced to the
reporters gathered around him that he was going to paint a picture
he himself termed as sensational: an exploding Christ, nuclear
and hypercubic. He said that it would be the first picture painted
with a classical technique and an academic formula but actually
composed of cubic elements. To a reporter who asked him why he
wanted to depict Christ exploding, he replied, "I don't know
yet. First I have ideas, I explain them later. This picture will
be the great metaphysical work of my summer."
It was at the end of spring in 1953 in Port Lligat that Dalí began
this work, but it is dated 1954, the year in which it was finished and
then exhibited in the month of December at the Carstairs Gallery in New
York. The painting may be regarded as one of the most significant of his
religious oils in the classical style, along with The Madonna of Port Lligat,
Christ of Saint John of the Cross, and The Last Supper, which is in the
National Gallery in Washington, D.C.
"Metaphysical, transcendent cubism" is the way that Dalí defines
his picture, of which he says: "It is based entirely on the Treatise on
Cubic Form by Juan de Herrera, Philip II's architect, builder of the Escorial
Palace; it is a treatise inspired by Ars Magna of the Catalonian philosopher
and alchemist, Raymond Lulle. The cross is formed by an octahedral hypercube.
The number nine is identifiable and becomes especially consubstantial with the
body of Christ. The extremely noble figure of Gala is the perfect union of the
development of the hypercubic octahedron on the human level of the cube. She
is depicted in front of the Bay of Port Lligat. The most noble beings were painted
by Velazquez and Zurbaran; I only approach nobility while painting Gala, and
nobility can only be inspired by the human being."
Crucifixion is a stunning work that successfully combines elements of Dalí's
Nuclear Mysticism with his return to his Catholic heritage during this
time. In this work, Dalí is giving us a crucifixion in the age of
modern science, completing his theme started in Christ of St. John of the
Cross.
Of particular note is the stunning athleticism with which the crucified
savior is represented. Even the nail holes in the palms and feet are not
present, as Salvador shows us his perfect redemption. The cross itself,
an eight sided octahedral cube, represents the possible theoretical reflection
of a separate 4-dimensional world. Dalí's fascination with mathematics
is incorporated with his return to his Catholic faith in later life. This
union represents Dalí's assertion that the two seemingly diametrically
opposed worlds of faith and science CAN coexist.
