What is the title of Dalí's painting depicting a crucified Christ viewed from above?
Answer
Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Answer
Christ of Saint John of the Cross
Dalí’s painting of the crucified Christ viewed from above is Christ of Saint John of the Cross.
Salvador Dalí painted Christ of Saint John of the Cross in 1951, presenting Jesus suspended over a darkened landscape and a body of water. The extreme overhead viewpoint makes the cross appear to project toward the viewer, while the face is hidden. Dalí based the composition on a drawing associated with the 16th-century Spanish friar and mystic John of the Cross, which explains the title.
The painting belongs to Dalí’s postwar religious period, often connected with his idea of “nuclear mysticism,” in which Catholic imagery was combined with his interest in modern science and the structure of matter. He reportedly linked the image to a “cosmic dream” and used a model suspended from an overhead gantry to study the body’s appearance from the unusual angle.
It is often confused with The Crucifixion, also called Corpus Hypercubus, Dalí’s 1954 painting of Christ suspended on a three-dimensional geometric cross. The Sacrament of the Last Supper is another religious work, but it depicts Christ and the apostles at a table. Christ of Saint John of the Cross is held by Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026