Signed Salvador Dali lithograph
The Virgin of Guadalupe, 1959

*Lithograph on Arches paper, 270/300

*Published: June 1982 (purchased/framed - 1983)

*Includes Certificate of Authenticity

*19" x 25"

After World War II, Dali converted to Catholicism, prompting a late creative period rooted in mysticism-previously uncharacteristic for him.

Dali's wife, his muse, his beloved, Gala, occupied a central place in the artist's work during this period. Dali repeatedly depicts her in the form of the Virgin in his Post-war works.

About The Virgin of Guadalupe, 1959:

Catholic legend tells of a medieval Mexican peasant, Juan Diego, who saw a vision on a hill in the Mexican desert; a young woman appeared to him and told him to build a church on the hill.

"Take these roses from my garden. Your people will believe you," The Virgin said.

Diego wrapped several roses and placed them in his wagon, then rushed to present them to the bishop. When the bishop looked in the wagon, he found, not roses, but a portrait of the Virgin Mary.

Dali depicts roses on the the Virgin Mary's quadrangular cloak. The Virgin is haloed by sunflower seeds and crowned by red and green gem stones.

Dali intentionally repeats plots used in other paintings. The jasmine flower placed in a vase against the background of a swirling hand-like cloud; these same clouds can be seen in "Santiago El Grande (1957). The two figures with hands clasped in prayer would be right at home in "The Last Supper" (1955).