Image of the crucifixion in Salvador Dalí, Josep Maria Sert and John of the Cross: Hypothesis on the making of the drawing in the Monastery of the Incarnation in Ávila

Abstract

In the first interpretations of the origins of the drawing by John of the Cross preserved in the Monastery of the Incarnation in Ávila, there was an attempt to relate this work with a “bodily vision” of the Crucifixion. Having rejected this hypothesis as being impossible in the real space of the convent, the origin of the drawing was sought in an “intellectual vision” or a “mystical vision.” Following the dissemination of contemporary photographic reproductions since 1929, artists such as Josep Maria Sert or Dalí were inspired by the drawing by John of the Cross to create or to justify their own works. Precise knowledge of these contemporary artists’ methods helps to formulate a new hypothesis on the technical and conceptual circumstances that led to the completion of the John of the Cross drawing.