The artwork titled “The Second Coming of Christ” was crafted by the renowned artist Salvador Dali in 1971. Dali’s creation is a religious painting that embodies the characteristics of the Surrealist movement, a genre in which he played a pivotal role. This particular piece continues to showcase Dali’s distinctive approach to religious themes through surrealistic expression.
In the artwork, Salvador Dali has employed a vivid and ethereal palette to depict a scene imbued with symbolic elements. The scene is dominated by a spectral, riderless horse that leaps upwards towards a swirling, yellow-hued cloud formation in a blue sky gradient, which itself may be interpreted as a divine presence. The horse’s luminous and airy form contrasts sharply with the earthly and mundane landscape beneath it.
Directly below the levitating horse appears a regal, fantastical creature resembling a golden-hued, fiery-maned lion, imbued with an aura of splendor and might. Both the lion and horse exhibit an ethereal quality, seemingly existing between the tangible world and a transcendent realm.
Attached to the horse by flowing reins is a draped figure, likely representing an angel or a divine messenger, given Dali’s religious influences. The figure is captured in a posture of gentle descent or perhaps reverence, with its bodily form obscured by a bold red cloth, adding a sense of dramatic intensity to the overall composition.
Dali’s unique approach often includes the manipulation of space and open landscapes, and here too, we observe an expanse that seems to recede into the horizon, populated with smaller figures and structures that provide perspective but also emphasize the otherworldliness of the main subjects.
This complex array of symbols and metaphors invites viewers to contemplate the prophetic and mystical aspects associated with the second coming of Christ, as interpreted through Dali’s singular surrealist vision. The work is a testament to Dali’s ability to fuse the realms of spirituality and dreamlike surrealism into a cohesive and provocative visual narrative.
