#DalíMeetsDante, presents artworks with a religious theme, amongst them the sculptures St. George and the Dragon, Adam and Eve, and the Last Supper, a bass relief.
The exhibition will take place from 1st July until 27th September at the Galleria delle Carrozze, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.
750 years ago, Dante Alighieri was born in Florence. The Fondazione Ambrosiana, organizer of cultural exhibitions throughout Italy, wish to mark this occasion and present an exhibition of the Divine Comedy as illustrated by Dalí.
Dalí illustrates Dante’s allegorical journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, re-interpreting it with a psychoanalytical slant. Dalí portrays the dreamlike atmosphere of Dante, adding his personal touch through use of iconographic symbols; melting figures, crutches, and human limbs surreally placed. The supernatural blends with an exploration of spirituality, creating this unique version of the Divine Comedy.
In the 1950’s, the decade that marked the 700th anniversary of Dante’s birth; the Italian government commissioned Salvador Dalí to illustrate Dante’ epic poem. It took Dalí nine years to create the hundred watercolors. The project didn’t achieve the success wished for, because of Dalí’s Spanish origins of and the controversial content. However it was enthusiastically welcomed in Paris and entrusted into the hands of expert artisans who created wood blocks used for the printing… the result of which is a masterpiece.
The Divine Comedy touches on and develops a fundamental theme of Christianity, the immortal soul of humanity. The second theme of the exhibition is thus religion.
Dalí’s relationship with religion since childhood, was turbulent; his mother was a devout catholic, his father an atheist. During adolescent the artist turned his back on the church, only to reconcile with it during his later years.
