Dali's gift to exorcist uncovered

ANSA ^ | 2005-10-12 | ANSA

[Antioch]

An art expert has uncovered a sculpture of Christ on the Cross he claims Salvador Dali made to thank an Italian friar who exorcised him. Armando Ginesi found the piece, measuring 60cm by 30cm, among the personal belongings of Gabriele Maria Berardi, a friar who died in 1984, in a storeroom in Rome.

He has shown the work to two Spanish experts on the Surrealist artist. They agreed that there are "sufficient stylistic reasons" to believe it was made by Dali .

According to Ginesi, Berardi told friends and relatives he exorcised Dali of a demon in 1947 during a spell in France. At the time Berardi had temporarily been suspended from his Italian religious order - apparently for failing to honour financial commitments. He did a variety of jobs, but continued to perform religious rites, including exorcisms.

The reported exorcism took place during a period in which Dali had broken away from Surrealism and started producing more realistic works, often with religious imagery.

Dali's sculpture of Christ on the Cross is a symbol of "piety filtered by a sense of the paradoxical," Ginesi explained .

"While the figure portrays the death and suffering that came before, the light colour of Jesus (which stands out on the dark brown cross) seems to allude to life and something positive." Dali may have given Berardi the sculpture in France following the friar's intervention or possibly later, during a visit to Italy, after Berardi had been readmitted to his order. The revelation of the exorcism presents a new twist in the life story of one of the 20th century's most eccentric and fascinating personalities. The artist had a tumultuous life. He was expelled from Art School, for example, for refusing to sit an exam on Raphael, on the grounds that he knew more about the subject than his teachers did .

He also had poor relations with the rest of the Surrealist movement, which threw him out for greed, ambivalence towards Fascism and a flamboyance that sometimes overshadowed his art. The sculpture of Christ belongs to the charity Berardi founded, Associazione fra i Volontari della Carita', which intends to sell the piece to finance good works .

[Antioch]

Some interesting new material on the spanish surrealist. Dali was the son of an avowed atheist father and a devout Spanish Catholic mother, Dalí's early career embraced the paternal path. In 1958, however, Dalí was granted an audience with Pope Pius XII during which he presented a small replica of his colossal painting, the Madonna of Port Lligat. Dalí sought not only a papal blessing for his work, but also permission to marry his longtime companion, Gala Eluard, in the Catholic Church. If you ever get to the National Gallery in DC, you can find Dali's monumental painting The Last Supper, by the elevators in the lower level. A beautiful work that far surpassed his surrealist works.

[Old Seadog]

Salvador Dali

[CatQuilt]

At the Bank of New England, in their Prudential Center branch, they had a hugh painting by him, Galacidalacidesoxyribonucleidacid. I tried to find a picture of it on the 'net but no luck yet.

Gala was standing in the foreground with her back to us. To the right were soldiers arranged in a DNA string. God, the Father was across the top, bringing His Son up to Heaven.

It was beautiful!

[Antioch]

Yes- I remember that painting... very beautiful and atmospheric

[SaltyJoe]

ping!