Dali and His Bible

Salvador Dali's life was always riddled with religious contradiction. Growing up his mother was a devote Catholic while his father was an atheist, and who married his aunt after his mother's death. This religious confusion affected Dali throughout his entire life.
When Dali met the love of his life, Gala, she was married to Paul Eluard. Although the two had an affair for a while, Gala eventually divorced Eluard and then married Dali. Their relationship was always frowned upon by some of Dali's closest friends and patrons. Dr. Mara Albaretto, one of Dali's greatest patrons, feared that Gala's influence was too strong over him and was concerned for his soul. Along with Albaretto, Drs. Guiseppe commissioned Dali to research and illustrate the Biblia Sacra in hopes of Dali finding spiritual redemption.
The Biblia Sacra was based on the Holy Bible written in Latin Vulgate text, there are five volumes of a 105 lithographs taken from the original paintings that Dali completed between 1963 and 1964. The original illustrations were completed with a combination of gouache, watercolor, ink, and pastel and incorporated a wide variety of religious, historical and mythological imagery. They were intense both in color and in images. While the completed works earned Dali audiences with both Popes Pius XII and John XXIII, the search for the renewal of Dali's faith was ultimately unfulfilled.Come into the gallery during the Art of Faith to view and collect a piece of the Biblia Sacra for your own collection.