Paintings Both Salvador Dali and Raphael Incorporated

Paintings

Both Salvador Dali and Raphael incorporated Christian imagery into their paintings. Raphael renders a scene from the life of Christ in "Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints." The painting is rendered on wood, with oil and gold leaf. It was designed to be a panel installed in a church: meaning that the painting had a cultural, religious, and ritualistic context as opposed to being art for art's sake. In Dali's "Crucifixion," the artist works firmly within his genre as a surrealist, and reinvents Christ on the canvas. Dali paints art for art's sake; this unconventional rendition of Christ would not have been commissioned by clergy as Raphael's was. However, Dali was heavily influenced by Catholicism. The artist is not being sacrilegious or even irreverent here; but Dali is reinventing Christ's image and that of the crucifixion. Painted in oil on canvas, "The Crucifixion" bears remarkable similarities to Raphael's religious painting. For one, the color palettes are similar because of the reliance of gold. However, the two paintings differ in most other regards, including composition.

Both Raphael and Dali place Christ in a central role, but do so using different compositional techniques. For Raphael, the painting of the Madonna and Child meant rendering Christ as a baby. His diminutive size cannot detract from his spiritual importance, though, which is why he and the Virgin Mary are seated on a throne and are attended by others. A child in a red outfit has connected with the baby Jesus, and has his hands clasped in prayer as if he recognizes Christ's godhood immediately. There is a gold halo surrounding Mary as well as the saints. Christ does not need one, perhaps because of his innocence at this stage. Dali depicts Christ at the end of his life, rather than the beginning.

The two artists therefore choose different periods in Christ's life, and render those two events differently. Whereas Raphael renders the infancy of baby Jesus, Dali renders the death of Christ on the cross. In both paintings, a woman features prominently. The woman in Raphael's painting is the Virgin Mary. In Dali's, it is the artist's wife Gala. Gala stands reverentially before Christ. She is draped in heavy robes not dissimilar to the ones worn by the saints in Raphael's painting. Raphael chooses to depict several other people besides Mary and Jesus; whereas Dali's painting is more minimalist. No other figures besides Gala and Christ are in the painting. Similarly, Dali's palette is simpler than Raphael's. Raphael uses jewel tones in many hues including red, green, blue, and orange. Dali sticks to shades of gold, black and white.

Dali's imagery of the crucifixion is unique in that there is no blood. Christ floats in front of the three-dimensional cross; he is not nailed to that cross. Instead, four floating cubes seem to present a sort of force field that holds Christ to the form of the cross. The effect is almost one that changes the symbol of Christ's martyrdom from something that happened to Christ, to something that Christ elected to do. Christ is seen more as a volunteer to die for the sins of humanity rather than as a victim of persecution. The difference is palpable, which is why Dali's crucifixion is unique. Moreover, the artist presents Christ as a cultural icon. Unlike Raphael, Dali is not attempting to render Biblical history so much as he is trying to convey the importance of Christ on human consciousness and culture.

Both Raphael's and Dali's compositions help the viewer's eye move around the canvas, mainly towards the heavens. In Raphael's composition, the top panel of the frame depicts a scene that is removed from the main scene below. We see two angels and a male figure, which may be God or another saint. The male figure points upwards to heaven. The angels are flying, which also suggests they are ascended beings. Dali conveys similar sentiments about ascension, but using different symbols and compositional techniques. In "Crucifixion," Dali shows Christ and the cross as being ethereal. They are not touching the ground. Just as Christ floats in front of his cross, the cross floats in front of Gala. The cubes that form the cross correspond with the black and white squares that form the floor beneath. The phrase from the Lord's Prayer, "On earth as it is in Heaven" comes to mind, as what is above (Christ and the cube cross) is as it is below (Gala and the tiled floor). The stark, black, and endless landscape beyond makes the Dali painting also look like a dream. Raphael's painting, on the other hand, seems much more realistic.

In Dali's crucifixion, the horizon is rendered in the lower portion of the canvas. The bulk of the canvas is consumed by the crucifixion scene and Christ's pale body. In Raphael's composition, the Christ baby is a tiny element compared to the other figures. Moreover, the composition is more traditional, in that the foreground depicts the feet and the horizon is about at midpoint. Like Dali, though, Raphael places Christ in the exact center of the canvas.