From 13 May, the church of San Marcello al Corso will host one of Salvador Dalí’s most famous works, the Christ of Saint John of the Cross, also known as The Christ of Port Lligat, a large oil on canvas painting from 1951.
Suspended in the dark and seen from above, the Crucifix by the visionary surrealist painter is exhibited for the first time next to a small image drawn with rapid ink strokes on a piece of paper: it is the “drawing-reliquary of Christ Crucified” that is said to have been drawn by St. John of the Cross himself after a mystical revelation in the second half of the 16th century. Here too, Christ is seen as from above and from the side, with a bold point of view that is unprecedented in the iconography of the time. Dalí was so impressed by this small work that he decided to translate the image in his own way. Dalí’s work is on loan from the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, while the relic of the Carmelite saint comes from the Monasterio de la Encarnación in Ávila.
The two works are on display to the public free of charge until 23 June in the church that also houses the famous 14th century wooden miraculous crucifix, which saved Rome from the plague in ancient times.
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