Salvador DaliÆs 1951 oil painting ôChrist of Saint John of the Crossö features a large image of the crucifixion of Christ hanging over the Bay of Port Lligat (Dali 1). Erwin PanofskyÆs iconographical analysis ôdeals with the manner in which, under varying historical conditions, specific themes or concepts are expressed by objects and eventsö (Stavrou 2). In this manner, DaliÆs painting of Christ reveals more than his own perspective on the icon of Christ. DaliÆs perspective is also characteristics of the basic attitudes of the era and society during which the painting was created.
DaliÆs painting of ôChrist of Saint Johnö is the product of a ôcosmic dream,ö according to the artist (Dali 1). In this dream Dali maintains he saw this image in color that he took to represent the ônucleus of the atom,ö which later became metaphysical in meaning to him as the ôvery unity of the universe, the Christö (Dali 1)! Measuring 205 x 116 cm, an oil on canvas, DaliÆs image of Christ looms large over the world in a way that is characteristic of the influence of Christ on DaliÆs culture and society (Dali 1). Despite DaliÆs dream, his image of Christ is very much an icon that is also the product of his times and its values and beliefs.
During the first half of the twentieth century, the sciences, including psychoanalysis, began to shed doubt on Christian mythology and the existence of God. Freud had a monumental affect on many artists but especially Dali who Kelly (2) maintains ôused FreudÆs notion that all human experiences lay hidden in the mind until they appear in dream in his painting.ö During DaliÆs lifetime, the search for meaning and answers to the deepest questions of existence became more secular due to advances in science and psychology. Dali, an atheist in his youth, participated in the search for answers to the meaning of existence through these discip
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