The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus
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| The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus |
| Salvador Dalí, 1959 |
| oil on canvas |
| 410 × 284 cm, 161.4 × 111.8 inches |
| Salvador Dalí Museum, St. Petersburg |
The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus is the name of a painting by artist Salvador Dalí, begun in 1958 and finished in 1959. It is a huge canvas, over 14 feet tall and over 9 feet wide (410 x 284 cm; 161.4 x 111.8 in), one in a series of large paintings Dalí did during this era. (An article by an art critic which surveyed the history of painting, rather arbitrarily only dealing with very large canvases as master works, is said to have inspired Dalí to set a goal for himself of producing more oversized paintings than any other artist of note in history.)
The work was commissioned by United States millionaire industrialists, philanthropists and collectors of Dalí's works A. Reynolds Morse & Eleanor R. Morse to be hung in the lobby of their business office near Columbus Circle in New York City.
As the title implies, the painting deals with Christopher Columbus's first landing in the New World, but it depicts the event metaphorically rather than aiming at historical accuracy. Columbus is depicted not as a middle-aged mariner, but as an adolescent boy in a classical robe to symbolize America as a young continent with its best years ahead of it.
Dalí, in a period of intense interest in Roman Catholic mysticism at the time*, symbolically portrayed Columbus bringing Christianity and the true church to a new world as a great and holy accomplishment.
Gala Dalí, the painter's wife, whom he often depicted as the Virgin Mary, poses for role of The Blessed Virgin (or according to some commentators Saint Helena) on the banner in the right hand of Columbus.
Dalí painted himself in the background as a kneeling monk holding a crucifix. Dalí's belief that Columbus was Catalonian is represented by the incorporation of the old Catalonian flag.
The painting contains numerous references to the works of Diego Velázquez, the Spanish painter who had died 300 years earlier, and who influenced both Dalí's painting and his moustache.
In the bottom center of the painting, on the beach a few steps in front of Columbus, is the bumpy and pockmarked brown sphere of a sea urchin with a curious halo-like ring around it. A story is told that Morse objected to this object on artistic grounds, and suggested that Dalí paint over it. Dalí insisted that it was an important element in the painting, and that Morse needed to contemplate it to understand. Morse reluctantly agreed, but never did think much about the sea urchin until 10 years later, when he was watching the Apollo 11 Moon landing on television, and he came to a sudden realization. He immediately telephoned Dalí to excitedly tell him that he now understood that the sea urchin represented other planets that young America would explore in the tradition of Columbus. Dalí replied curtly, "Yes, of course. It took you this long to figure it out? Incredible! Now I must get back to work", and hung up on Morse.
The painting now hangs in the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida which provides a permanent home for the collection of A. Reynolds Morse & Eleanor R. Morse.
*Note: In Dalí's own words, he claimed that his faith was not Roman Catholic but rather Romanian Catholic. If Dalí ever explained what he meant by this, it seems to have escaped the attention of his standard biographies.
