The Sacrament of the Last Supper

''The Sacrament of the Last Supper'' was completed during Dalí's post-World War II period, which is characterized by his increased interest in science, optical illusion and religion. During this time he became a devout [[Roman Catholic]] and simultaneously was astonished by the "[[atomic age]]". Dalí himself labelled this era in his work "Nuclear [[Christian mysticism|Mysticism]]". He sought to combine traditional Christian iconography with images of disintegration. This is especially apparent in his piece ''[[The Madonna of Port Lligat]]'', which was completed six years earlier.

''The Sacrament of the Last Supper'' was completed during Dalí's post-World War II period, which is characterized by his increased interest in science, optical illusion and religion. During this time he became a devout [[Roman Catholic]] and simultaneously was astonished by the "[[atomic age]]". Dalí himself labelled this era in his work "Nuclear [[Christian mysticism|Mysticism]]". He sought to combine traditional Christian iconography with images of disintegration. This is especially apparent in his piece ''[[The Madonna of Port Lligat]]'', which was completed six years earlier.

The painting was not commissioned. After purchasing the [[Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)|''Crucifixion'']] and then giving it to the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], collector and banker [[Chester Dale]] told Dalí he "had to do one more religious picture". Dale believed that this picture was "too important to keep for a few" and so donated it to the National Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.46590.html|title=The Sacrament of the Last Supper|year=1955 }}</ref> In a paragraph in the National Gallery's curatorial file but missing from all published accounts, Dalí wrote of this picture:

The painting was not commissioned. After purchasing the [[Crucifixion (Corpus Hypercubus)|''Crucifixion'']] and then giving it to the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], collector and banker [[Chester Dale]] told Dalí he "had to do one more religious picture". Dale believed that this picture was "too important to keep for a few" and so donated it to the National Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.46590.html|title=The Sacrament of the Last Supper|year=1955 }}</ref> In a paragraph in the National Gallery's curatorial file but missing from previous published accounts, Dalí wrote of this picture:

{{blockquote|text=The first Holy Communion on Earth is conceived as a sacred rite of the greatest happiness for humanity. This rite is expressed with plastic means and not with literary ones. My ambition was to incorporate to [[Francisco de Zurbarán|Zurbarán]]'s mystical realism the experimental creativeness of modern painting in my desire to make it classic.|sign=Salvador Dalí|source=quoted in

{{blockquote|text=The first Holy Communion on Earth is conceived as a sacred rite of the greatest happiness for humanity. This rite is expressed with plastic means and not with literary ones. My ambition was to incorporate to [[Francisco de Zurbarán|Zurbarán]]'s mystical realism the experimental creativeness of modern painting in my desire to make it classic.|sign=Salvador Dalí|source=quoted in