Christ of Saint John of the Cross, Essay Example

The Christ of Saint John portrait by Salvador Dali, a Spanish painter, was painted in 1951 (Dali, 2022). According to Salvador, the painting of Christ was impacted by his dream, where he saw a glimpse of the exact impression of “Christ Saint John” (Dali, 2022). Of course, Christ Saint John was hanging on a cross. Likewise, as the painting illustrates in his dream, the environment was filled with a combination of colors (Dali, 2022), just as Salvador tried to mimic.

Remarkably, Christ of Saint John was created through canvas and oil with the mind that it would be preserved for a long time and remain original (Dali, 2022). The artist used a technique unique to the way the sea was painted as well as the hanging body of Christ (Dali, 2022). From the portrait, “sea at an eye level while the body of Christ hangs in the air from the cross” (Dali, 2022). Presumably, the technique was meant to make Christ more attention-filled. Further, in the technique, the artist used shadows to give an illusion of depth and reduced the size of mountains to obtain the same illusion (Dali, 2022). He used realistic colors and order to achieve his surreal work of art.

The artwork can, however, be considered symbolic of freedom and religion, especially because Salvador painted the surreal portrait at a time of strong atheism, yet he was attempting to return to his Catholic beliefs and faith (Brookes, 2011). Perhaps this was his method of seeking redemption amidst a culture filled with unbelief and presumably ungodliness. Regardless, Brookes suggests a culture grounded by religion which would have then influenced his dream and wants to return to the faith (2011). The author further claims the influence of his culture since Salvador had used an aerial view of the body of Christ just as he was shown of the Carmelite mystic and an expression from the gospel as found in theology (Brookes, 2011). This would be because of the smoothen appearance of Christ; he disregarded an appearance of a tortured body as it would be expected.

References

 Brookes, A. (2021, August 9). Art of the redemption 4: Christ of st john of the Cross by Salvador Dali. The Dominican Friars in Britain. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://www.english.op.org/godzdogz/art-of-the-redemption-4-christ-of-st-john-of-the-cross-by-salvador-dali/.

 Dali, S. (2022). Christ of Saint John of the Cross. Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dali. Retrieved August 6, 2022, from https://salvadordaliprints.org/christ-of-saint-john-of-the-cross/.