What are the dimensions of 'The Persistence of Memory' in centimeters?

The Persistence of Memory measures 24.1 cm × 33 cm.

The small dimensions are one of the surprising facts about Salvador Dalí’s most famous painting. Although its melting watches and expansive coastal setting feel monumental, the original oil-on-canvas work is only 24.1 centimeters high and 33 centimeters wide—about 9½ by 13 inches. Its intimate scale rewards close viewing, since many details are finely painted and easy to miss in reproductions.

Dalí painted the work in 1931, during the period when he was developing Surrealist images of unstable perception, dream states, and distorted time. The compact canvas contains several soft watches, a rigid watch covered with ants, a bare tree, a biomorphic figure, and a distant Mediterranean landscape. The tight arrangement makes the impossible scene feel unusually precise and believable.

A common mistake is to assume that an artwork this influential must be large. The painting’s cultural impact comes from its striking imagery, not its physical size. It entered the Museum of Modern Art’s collection in 1934 after being donated anonymously and remains one of the museum’s best-known works.