Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) | Salvador Dalí | 1954

Salvador Dalí’s Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus) (1954) reimagines the traditional crucifixion through his “nuclear mysticism,” melding Catholic symbolism with advanced mathematics and atomic-age science. Instead of a wooden cross, Christ is suspended on the unfolded net of a tesseract—an abstract, four-dimensional hypercube—suggesting that divine truths transcend human comprehension. The figure of Christ is pristine and muscular, purposely devoid of wounds, nails, or a crown of thorns, evoking spiritual triumph rather than physical agony. Gala, depicted as a devotional onlooker at the foot of the hypercube, anchors the scene in earthly human experience while echoing classical religious portraiture. Set against a void-like landscape and illuminated with Caravaggesque chiaroscuro, the work reinforces the unity of science, faith, and art—pointing to a higher dimension where pain is transcended and geometric perfection mirrors spiritual elevation.